Outtaverse part 6: In all the wrong places
by Madcap13
Summary: Buffy, Tara and Willow go on a road trip to find some new friends. Crossovers ensue.
1. Prologue

Outtaverse part 6: In all the wrong places.

Disclaimer : Owning all the rights to this would be great but it's just not financially feasible for me at this time.

Feedback : I love that stuff. Don't be afraid to drop a few lines if you're feeling charitable.

Summary – Buffy, Tara and Willow go on a road trip to find some new friends, wackiness ensues. warning, this episode crossovers with some other shows.

Recap : Alternate season 5, Faith is out of her second coma but with a chip in her head to keep her halfway out of trouble. Tell is a kiddie demon who's a clone of some original evil and he's in town acting as a scoobie, owning the Chase mansion and having Faith and Spike live with him. Tara's acquired the scythe and it's giving her some unusual powers.

Warning: Rated R for illegal and criminal activities, disturbing behavior, drug use, sexual material and anything else your imagination fills in for me. Have fun.

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Saturday morning at the Magic box was dull and boring.

Dawn was wondering why she went to the magic box when she could have been watching Batman of the future on TV while Buffy had Tell on her mind again. Anya and Harmony were reading magazines at the counter with Giles, who wasn't reading magazines.

"And what's with that spiked gauntlet he wears all the time?" Buffy asked Giles.

Since this was the first thing said for at least five minutes, Giles wasn't ready for it, "Gauntlet? Oh yes. It seems to be a replica of the same gauntlet the knights templar used."

"Knights templar." Buffy repeated, "I've heard of them, haven't I?"

"The knights templar were an order of military clergy founded to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the holy land. There was some demonic meddling by a demon called Baphomet who incited the templar to fight against the papacy or possibly visa versa. Baphomet used the knight's greed for riches and glory to fuel the crusades but eventually the crusades ended and Baphomets control faltered as well. The Templar mostly disbanded with their stolen loot and it's commonly believed that they laid the foundation for the modern banking system."

"This Baphomet guy. He's dead, right?" Dawn asked.

"I believe so but there is no record of his death." Giles admitted, "But there is something interesting to note. The Templar were excommunicated and executed for confessions forced under torture, similar to the Spanish inquisition. The last grand master, Jacques de Molay, he cursed the king and the pope as he was being burnt at the stake. He cursed them to join him within a year. Now this is where it gets interesting."

"I'm not going to like this punch line, am I?" Buffy asked.

"Both the cursed king and the pope died with a year. Although it wasn't released to the general public how they died, the watchers council have records of it. They both died face down in their beds and with three holes punched into the base of the skull. A signature killing blow of the knights Templar."

"They were clergy, right?" Buffy asked, "So they swore off earthly pleasures like girls and boozing and things, right?"

Giles nodded in a so-so way, "It was taken more seriously in some places than in others but yes, it was fairly common. Not everyone who protected the pilgrims were Templar however. Quite a number of famous knights fought by their side."

"I think these knight Templar had a big influence on Tell." said Buffy.

"Or maybe he's just using their image for his own means, like Baphomet did." Giles theorized.

"Oh!" Harmony gasped, having listened in on the conversation, "Maybe Tell IS Baphomet."

Anya shook her head, "No. Baphomet is all big and bat winged. They look nothing like each other."

"It could be his demon form." Harmony shot back, "When he gets angry, he sprouts wings and changes form. Like how vampires get angry and their forehead goes bumpy."

Anya hemmed and shook her head, "No. I've seen an echo's demon side and well, you might not find it sexy but I did. It's an acquired taste."

"Tell's got a game face?" Dawn asked Anya with interest, "What's it look like?"

"Well-" Anya started but was interrupted by Willow yelling "YAHTZEE!"

She and Tara came in from the training room, both were looking VERY happy.

"Someone's been doing it in the training room again." Anya whispered to Harmony who tittered.

"Yahtzee?" Harmony asked Willow, "Is that a Jewish thing? Because I don't do Jewish."

"And you never will." Willow smirked at Harmony, "We think we've figured out how to find those guys.. What are we calling them again?"

"Gifted individuals." Giles reminded her, "It's more politically correct than what they're called in the appendix."

Dawn grinned, "Is it a rude word?"

Giles nodded, "Actually, it is."

Buffy couldn't help but chuckle, "That's good. I can respect someone who gets called a rude word by an evil book maker."

"So you've worked the spell then?" Giles asked them.

Willow nodded gleefully while Tara seemed a little less enthused.

"I'm not so sure." Tara said, "I think we attuned the map to find something else."

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"You should take a look." Willow told him as she looked back into the room, a little less enthused this time.

'Can I see?" Dawn pleaded as she ran up to Willow, "Please."

"Sure." Willow said, moving out of the way so Dawn could see the giant extremely large blown up map of America and some of South America.

"Whoa!" Dawn said, transfixed by the myriad of glittering lights that littered the map, "That is so cool."

"Dear lord." Giles said as he saw the map, "That can't be right. There must be thousands there. Are you sure you did it correctly."

Slowly, the Scoobies present filtered into the room and looked at the map.

"It's pretty." Harmony said, enthralled by the display.

"I was going to say that." Buffy said after her.

"This looks like a conjuration of the goddess Thespia." Giles noted, "Is it?"

Willow nodded, "Thespia is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite deities."

"Maybe we should burn her a nice offering." Tara suggested.

Willow thought about it, "What sort of things would Thespia like sacrificed? Ooh, we could look it up on the internet. She probably has her own website."

"Good idea." Tara said, enthusiastically, "I'm thinking something like a gift basket."

Giles didn't look impressed, "If this is the conjuration I think it is, this only detects demons."

Willow smirked, "Then why aren't there any demons in Sunnydale?"

Giles located Sunnydale on the map and indeed, there were no sparkles there.

"One question." Buffy asked, "Each of these little sparkles is a person, right?"

Willow nodded, "More or less."

"So why are they different colors?" Buffy asked, "And how is it possible for something to sparkle black? It doesn't seem physically possible."

Willow and Tara looked at each other, both confused and they both shrugged.

"You say they're gifted in powerful magic?" Anya asked Giles, "Are you sure it's not just referring to witches?"

Giles shook his head, "As you'll see, there's none in Sunnydale."

"That could just be the hellmouth screwing with the scrying." Willow countered.

"You might be right." Giles admitted then looked over the map, "I suggest we look for a concentration in a small town. Somewhere which would be a good place for look for help."

"There." Buffy said, "That tight patch of whitish twinkles in the country. The one in Nevada."

"I've got a better one." Dawn taunted her, "This one is huge. It looks a bit funny."

"Dawnie, that's New York. Not a small town." Buffy replied, "And do you know how long it takes to drive to New York? This one's so much closer."

"What's this then?" Faith asked, leaning on the doorframe to the training room.

"Faith. It's ten in the morning." Buffy said, scolding her, "What are you doing drunk?"

"I'm not drunk." Faith spat at her, "Which is partially why I'm here. Can I borrow some money? Maybe get an advance on that whole living, breathing for money deal?"

"No." Buffy replied curtly.

"But Tell stopped giving me money when he found out what I was doing with it." Faith complained.

"Tell's been giving you money?" Dawn asked, almost hurt, "What did you have to do?"

"The most basest acts imaginable." groaned Faith, "Like doing my own laundry instead of just taking his clothes. This morning, we cleaned out a vampire nest together and he only gave me a measly fifty bucks. Can't get drunk on fifty bucks when you're the slayer."

"That's his shirt. Isn't it?" Dawn asked her.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Faith smirked, "So what's the lesbian lightshow extravaganza?"

Willow ignored Faith as she leant over the map and placed a thumbtack on the map where Buffy had chosen their destination. Tara had different ideas and she spoke up, "It's a spell for finding who we want to, uh, find."

Swaying only slightly, Faith sauntered over to Tara and looked her up and down at an almost intimate distance, "You've changed a bit since I last saw you. Willow's been a bad influence on you. What I like to hear."

"Ignore her, Tara." Willow told her lover, "She's just cranky because she hasn't gotten in any torture today."

Faith laughed at Willow, "Shows how little you know. I tortured Spike after I had breakfast. I think he liked it. Or maybe he hated it. It's so hard to tell when all they do is moan my name."

"Faith and Spike getting along. Who didn't see that coming?" Buffy asked the group.

"They deserve each other." Harmony said with a look of distaste.

"Ooh. Still a little sore, Harmy?" Faith tittered as she leant on Tara who was trying her best to get free.

"Faith. Stop that." Willow said as she pushed Faith off Tara.

Faith just chuckled, "I guess we know now who wears the pants in your relationship."

"It's not like that." Willow said defensively.

'Sure it is." Faith said as she touched Tara softly on the arm, causing the blonde to flinch back, "See. You've got her whipped. Got to stop her from wondering what a real woman's like. She only knows what you're like."

"Faith!" Dawn shrieked at her from right next to her, "That's not funny!"

Faith sighed and rolled her eyes, "You're just not seeing the funny but it really is."

" Tara, Willow, Ready for the road trip?" Buffy asked them.

Both witches nodded.

"Good." Buffy said curtly, "Then lets go now. Post haste. Oh, but first. Is it safe to just keep that map like that?"

Willow chuckled, "Oops."

Then she leant down and pulled a crystal off the corner of the map and the spell dissipated.

"Post what?" Faith looked at Buffy confused as the trio walked out of the room, "Hey. Where ya going? Aww but we still haven't caught up. I was thinking, we could braid our hair, talk about boys and oh, there's some cheers I wanted to pass by you."

"That wasn't funny." Harmony scolded Faith, "I get that you're all psycho and you like to hurt people but Tara's been a good friend to me since my accident and you shouldn't be mean to her."

"Your accident?" Faith scoffed, "Never heard it called that before."

Harmony slugged her in the arm then stormed off into the main room, followed by Giles and Anya.

Faith mouthed a quiet "Ow." as she rubbed her arm then said out loud, "What's that vamp bitch drinking? I thought she was just a few years turned. Shouldn't be able to hurt like that with such a pussy punch."

"Maybe you're just getting soft." Dawn told her which didn't please Faith.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Faith asked her.

"It's Saturday." Dawn smirked, "Hey, I know. I could hurt myself if it would make you feel better."

Faith glared at them, "Yeah. Why don't you go do that."

"Oh, don't be like that. Let's go do something."

"No money." Faith told her, "Wouldn't spend it on you anyway. Must've been delirious when I woke up to buy you PVC gear."

"I've got some money." Dawn said with a big grin.

"So?"

"Well. We could do something with it." Dawn said cheerfully, "I don't have much but it should be enough to.. watch a movie."

Faith's eyes twinkled, "A movie?"

"Yeah. A movie."

"You enjoyed the last one?" Faith asked with a brilliant smile.

"It was very educational." Dawn said, blushing, "So can we?"

"If you're paying, sure. But you'll have to change."

"Do I have to? Again? Someone might see me."

Faith smirked, "Don't worry. You can borrow some of my clothes. Just for today."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"And can you tell me some more stuff about boys?"

Faith chuckled and wrapped her arm around Dawn as she led her out of the magic box, "Stick with me kid, you'll have them eating out of the palm of your hand."

Dawn grinned, "That's a good thing, right?"

"It's a start. Then you want them eating out of somewhere else."

Dawn looked at Faith, totally oblivious to what she meant.

OXOXOX

On a reasonably quiet road in the country.

Buffy was speeding along in her banana yellow sports convertible which she had recently brought with her new income.

Tara and Willow were in the back seat, glad that the road was very straight. Tight turns and Buffy driving did not mix well.

It was quite a bit later in the day as the girls hadn't left straight away as Buffy had alluded to. They left the magic box, packed a little, had some lunch and then gently drove their way to saving the world as Buffy saw it. Willow and Tara saw it as needlessly reckless driving and one too many scenic routes.

They didn't want to add to the fact that they thought Buffy was lost.

Buffy still had Tell on her mind. Something was nagging at her.

Quickly, she took her cell phone out and dialed in a call.

"Yellow?" Xander said on the other line in greeting.

"It's me. I know it's your day off but could you do something for me?"

"Hey you." Xander chuckled, "And for your information it's never my day off, Buff. Some days I just don't do anything. So what did you want? Anything to be of service."

"You can look through police records, right?"

"That I can."

"So could you please do a search for people killed by a spike or several spikes to the back on the head for me?"

"Uh, okay. What's this about?"

"It's just a hunch. You've seen Tell and his weapon of choice, haven't you? The spiked gauntlet. Well, I thought it might be possible to find out if he's killed any people with it."

"Okay. I'm on it as soon as I finish playing golf."

Buffy blinked, "You're playing golf?"

Xander half laughed and half sighed, "Yes. I'm playing golf. It's expected of me. Look, I'll get back to you on this. I've logged it into my timetable so I'll get onto it asap."

"Asap meaning as soon as you've finished hitting a poor white ball into a hole in the ground."

"Nothing gets by you."

Buffy chuckled, "Don't let me keep you then. See ya."

"Bye Buffy."

Putting the cell phone back down, Buffy looked back at Willow and Tara who were snuggling up in the backseat, "Did you overhear? Xander's playing golf."

Willow smiled at she stroked Tara's hair as Tara had her head resting on her shoulder.

"We heard." Willow replied for them.

Buffy laughed then took another look at the couple in the back, "I'm not into being a lesbian or anything but you two sitting like that is simply adorable."

This brought a big smile to both of their faces.

"Did you hear that?" Willow asked Tara, "She thinks we're adorable."

"In a completely non-sexual way." Buffy told her.

"Sure." Willow chuckled.

" Willow." Tara said in a manner that would've been scolding if Tara wasn't chuckling herself.

"Have we figured out what we're going to do?" Buffy asked, "When we find these people and if they decide to help us."

"Well, we know Spike and Xander are for killing him. I think Giles is keeping his opinion quiet because Tell saved his vampire chicky from .. other vampires." said Willow, "Does that seem right to you?"

"I think Anya likes him because she knew his twin, Twist. Dawn and Faith have taken a shine for him too." Tara said with a smile, "Along with another slayer we all know."

Buffy glared at her, " Tara. I admit, I like him. Just not like that. He's sooo.."

"Adorable." Willow spoke for Buffy, "But you've thought about it, haven't you?"

Tara got off Willow's shoulder and looked her in the eye, "Have you thought about it?"

"Uh. No." Willow said, avoiding eye contact.

"It's okay if you have." Tara told her, "You can tell me."

Willow pursed her lips then confessed, "Okay. I have. But it's weird, you know? He's a guy and he's looks so young and not to mention the fact that he's a demon. It's just Anya and her big mouth talking about his twin that's a prostitute that's supposedly so amazing at sex."

"Yeah. I can't figure that out." Buffy told them, "Tell's all business while his identical twin is .. like that."

"Wouldn't all the echoes be identical?" Tara asked.

"Huh?" Willow asked her.

"Think about it. They're all duplicates of that greater evil demon, aren't they? So they would all act the same, wouldn't they?"

"Which is another thing." Buffy pointed out, "Why would the great evil look human? It doesn't make sense."

"Speaking with Anya, I found out that they're not that human at all. At least, not like we are." said Willow, "There's a lot of differences when you get them naked. Different bone structures. Muscles are attached differently. Anya told me about these primitives she once came across that were similar. Not the same as Tell but they were built differently than most humans. She didn't think anything of it until Darwin invented the idea of evolution and it all made sense to her."

"So Anya thinks Tell is a Neanderthal?" Buffy asked, "Because he sure doesn't look like one."

Willow shook her head, "No. She has her own ideas about evolution that don't make too much sense. She thinks that maybe Tell's form is that of a prototypical human. She said something about some midrashic script which I didn't follow but the gist of it is maybe the great evil was based on some form of extinct human or maybe it was human at some time. Oh that's right. She said that it's possible that the great evil could have been a prototype for humanity which didn't work.. or something like that. You'll have to ask her."

"What about you two?" Buffy asked, "For or against?"

"After hearing Xander and Anya go at it, we're sitting this one out." Willow said with a smirk.

Buffy chuckled then frowned, "Uh. Did anyone notice something strange?"

"What do you mean?" Tara asked her.

Buffy looked back at them for a second and explained, "How the guys want to kill Tell and most of the girls want him alive? Or is it all the girls? You can tell me, Tara. He is awfully cute."

"He's not that cute." Tara said, rolling her eyes.

"Right. So for or against?" Buffy asked her, "And we're going to be in the car for a while, so you'd better fess up now to save me nagging you."

"It's the scythe." Tara told her, "Personally, I'm not sure where I stand but when Tell is in the room, the scythe sends me a very scary flow. I don't think it likes him."

"It was made to destroy him." Buffy reminded her.

Tara frowned, "Are you sure about that? It seems a little.."

"A little what?" Buffy asked.

Tara sighed as she rubbed her temples, "It's the scythe again, trying to make itself known. It's like a baby crying for it's bottle."

"Does it hurt?" Willow asked with concerned.

"No." Tara told her, "But it's distracting."

When the scythe was trying to prod Tara to do something, the changes in the normally passive blonde were startling. Once second she would be the serene, strangely charming girl and then she'd be bitter and angry and confused at the feelings that didn't belong to her. Willow hadn't talked about it but Buffy knew it must've been grating at her. Because of this, Buffy wrote down a mental note to bring it up later with the red head.

"What do you think it wants this time?" Buffy asked her.

"Oh, I don't know." Tara huffed.

"Should we pull over and find out?" Buffy asked.

"Sure. Why not?" Tara asked tiredly.

Buffy slowed the car and popped the trunk. Tara got out and took the scythe from the trunk and closed her eyes.

She stood that way for a few seconds then groaned. Not in pain but in impatience.

"I can't believe this." Tara said to herself under her breath.

"What is it?" Willow asked, still with concern.

"I'm not sure but I think it's giving me directions."

Buffy and Willow looked at each other, both at a loss.

"Hop back in then." Buffy told her, "We'll see where it takes us."

OXOXOX

Inside a darkened cinema.

There was a movie on the silver screen which Faith and Dawn were watching. By the panting and grunting and lack of meaningful dialogue, it was obviously another blue movie they were watching.

Faith was dressed casually in a pair of old denim pants and jacket she'd brought second hand while Dawn was wrapped in a leather duster and wearing leather pants and some wickedly clunky but shiny knee high boots Faith had buffed personally. Under the duster, Dawn was hiding the black corset that Faith assured her wasn't too obscene to wear without a top. Dawn remembered with dread at how Faith had tightened up the front to give her some actual cleavage. As she looked back on it, it was kind of funny. In fact, a lot of things were funny now and she didn't know why.

Faith passed a bottle to Dawn and looked across to her to make sure she drank. Dawn dutifully tipped the bottle back and drank a gulp. After which she righted the bottle and let out a series of gasps as the alcohol content made her skin go all prickly.

Dawn leant back in the chair a little and hummed slightly, enjoying the rush and sniggering drunkenly at how drunk she was.

Faith took the bottle off her and took a swig but without much reaction to it.

"So, let me get this straight." Faith asked her, "Your virgin blood is being used as an ingredient in the making of magic chocolate? So if you have sex then everyone would know and Buffy would beat whoever it is to a pulp?"

Dawn nodded as she stuffed some more popcorn in her mouth.

Faith laughed, "Then you should do some lucky kid and not tell Buffy who it was. She'll go mental."

"I can't just.. do it." Dawn told her, "I don't even have a boyfriend."

"Girl. You don't want a boyfriend. They're bad news. Trust me. All they want is to get themselves off, just like everyone else. They just lie to you to do it. Should do what I do, grab whoever you want, do them then leave them. Boys really don't mind casual sex. You're the only one who has a problem with it."

Dawn looked over at Faith who was more cranky than truly drunk. Recently, Faith she'd been terminally disappointed about something but she thought it was better than being terminally single, like she was.

"What's it like?" Dawn asked.

"What's what like?' Faith asked, now looking at the sex scene as the actors changed positions.

"Sex." Dawn said as if Faith was dumb.

Faith looked back at Dawn with a look that said that Dawn was the dumb one. Then Faith pointed at the screen with her hands.

"Do you have sex like that?" Dawn asked, nodding towards the screen.

Faith shrugged, "Sometimes."

"But it's so.. so.."

"Hot?" Faith asked meanly as she brushed some of Dawn's hair away from her neck.

"B-but.." Dawn stammered, "Like look at this. Would you do that?"

Faith looked at the screen, biting her bottom lip as she watched something intently for a few seconds.

"Normally not." Faith admitted, "If someone shot a load into my face like that, I'd kick their ass."

"What about doing THAT?" Dawn asked.

"Anal?" Faith asked, "Not my favorite thing in the world but sure, I've done it."

Dawn pouted and went watched the movie some more.

"What's the matter?" Faith asked her.

"I'm never going to have sex." Dawn told her sadly, "I can't do that."

Faith chuckled, "Dawn, you're a summers. You can do whatever you put your mind to. Especially anal sex."

"No one would want to do that to me." Dawn said miserably.

Faith raised Dawn's jaw with a finger and looked her in the eye and said "I would. If I had a dick, I would fuck your ass."

Dawn's mouth quivered and she started sobbing slowly, "Faith. God, I love you."

Then Dawn bodily crashed into Faith and hugged her with all her heart, getting a strangled chuckle from Faith.

"Keep it down in front." some guy yelled from the back row of the cinema, "Some of us came for the movie."

OXOXOX

Continued in next chapter


	2. Find me again

Back on the road, the sky had turned stormy and was pregnant with lightning. The sun was blotted out, making it seem later in the afternoon than it was. Buffy had popped up the convertible soft top with a press of a button. It was a feature on the car that Buffy had spent more than a few minutes playing with as soon as she brought it. The novelty still hadn't worn off for her.

Currently, they were driving along on a decidedly off-road version road. Something her car wasn't built for but Buffy was handling it admirably.

"Where do you think we're going?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know." Tara said with the scythe in her hands, "I don't even think this thing knows where it's going."

They drove for a few more minutes of quiet until Buffy said "If it's buried treasure, you're digging it up and we didn't bring any shovels."

"Slow down." Tara told Buffy, who did, "Stop. Stop here."

The car stopped and all three girls looked around.

"There's nothing here." Willow said as Tara opened her door, got out and started walking into the bush tentatively.

Buffy sighed, "Fine. Let's do it that way."

She turned off the ignition and took the keys out. As an afterthought, she took a stake from the glove box. Sure, she was about to walk into a forest which was full of potentially sharp pieces of wood but she always preferred to bring her own protection.

Tara waited for her two friends on the side of the road and as soon as they started following her, she walked into the forest, scythe in hand.

"Ooh!" Tara said excitedly, "Stand back."

With a slightly hesitant hacking motion, Tara hacked her way through vines which filled the path.

For a few minutes, they followed Tara through the dense green forest.

That was until Buffy said "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Willow asked who was hearing nothing over the pitter patter of rain and her own footfalls.

"I hear.. DOWN!"

Buffy pushed Tara to the side, into a pack of shrubs and Willow ducked and skidded down as a barrage of small, extremely compact fireballs were flung in their direction by a number of unseen assailants.

Hiding behind a tree, Buffy looked around to see a group of bulky bluish-grey shapes coming their way, their armor clanking in tune with their advance.

Tara scrambled out of the shrubbery and readied the scythe to attack as an axe. By the time she had figured out that was a stupid idea, it was also by the time the monsters were already on her, weapons pointed in her direction. Luckily for Tara, it was also when Buffy fell out from the top of a tree on them, landing in the middle of them.

In a confused scramble, the assailants flew in all directions.

One of them fell towards Tara and struck her with the weapons in its hands, a large staff.

Tara was knocked to her knees but got back up, not terribly hurt and swung the scythe at the struggling figure which brought its staff up to block her attack.

The scythe cut straight through its weapon and embedded the axe blade into it's chest. After that, it didn't move.

Tara frowned, realizing there was something decidedly wrong about this situation, something unreal.

Catching some movement, Tara spun around to catch Willow running off back towards the car.

" Willow!" Tara called running after her, "Wait."

But Willow didn't wait, she ran and ran, looking back to see Tara running after her.

At the rise before the road, Willow turned around to look at Tara.

" Willow? What are you doing? Buffy's back there!" Tara cried as she clambered up the small rise towards Willow.

Willow smiled and her eyes glowed golden in the darkness.

"Fool!" said a voice that wasn't Willow's as Willow's foot lashed out and kicked her in the face.

OXOXOX

A light from the sky illuminated the brawl for a few seconds, startling Buffy who looked to the sky, confused.

Two of the weirdly shaped figures picked her up and slammed her back into a tree.

Thinking that she was stunned, they moved back to pick up their weapons but Buffy picked up a heavy rock and threw it violently fast at one of the figures. Its dense outer shell cracked and the rock lodged itself deep inside the now unmoving soldier.

The other soldier looked at it's fallen comrade's fate for a second and Buffy took that time to bridge the distance, knocking it to the ground as she stabbed it in what she hoped was it's heart.

The bright light returned and Buffy looked to the sky to find it full of helicopters, many of them with search lights and them all converging onto the scene.

Buffy looked at them, still confused but knowing that could see her now that she was in a clearing.

That was when she heard more of the sound. It was steam.

She looked across the across the clearing and stared in amazement at what she could only call a spaceship that had crash landed, knocking aside trees and digging a wide trench into the ground for half a mile. Its outside was steaming as the rain hit it.

"Wow." Buffy said, slightly jaded, "Hey guys. You've got to see this."

That was when Buffy turned around worriedly, "Guys?"

Although Buffy wanted to go check on her friends. The soldiers running out of the tree line and the other soldiers abseiling down from helicopters had different ideas. They pointed guns at her and Buffy dropped the stake and put her hands up.

"Don't shoot." she squealed, hoping they wouldn't, "I'm not a bad guy."

"How did you get here?" one of the gun totting men asked her, harshly.

"My car." Buffy told him.

"Is anyone else with you?" the same guy asked.

"Just my friends." Buffy told me, "They were just behind me. They could be hurt. There were these guys."

"How many friends?"

"Two."

The guy asking the questions pulled a radio strapped to his shoulder a bit closer to his mouth and mumbled some jargon into it.

"Okay. Now lie face and put your hands on your head." the guy told her, a little calmer this time, "Jarman, you cuff her."

"Why am I being arrested?" Buffy asked, already knowing the reason for her detainment.

OXOXOX

After being handcuffed, the military types locked Buffy into a freight helicopter. After some time, they uncuffed Buffy once they found that she wasn't struggling. It might have had something to do with the fact that she was only a little girl too.

Across from her, on a stretcher, an unconscious Tara was being looked after by two medics. When they found nothing life threatening they woke her up by sticking smelling salts under her nose. With a jerk, she awoke then regretted the sudden movement.

"Ugh!" she grunted as the concussion hit her.

"Is she going to be okay?" Buffy asked them, concerned.

'I think so." one of the medic, "Looks like a mild concussion. If there's anything else wrong then we'll be able to help her better help when we get where we're going."

"What happened?" Tara asked as she got up.

"And where are we going?" Buffy added.

"They clean?" asked an older soldier as he entered the helicopter, followed by three others.

One of the medics nodded, "No Goa'uld."

It was the medic who scanned both Buffy's and Tara's head with some piece of equipment Buffy didn't recognize. When she asked him about it, he said it was a portable x-ray machine and not to move too much.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, "What happened to Willow?"

"W-Willow." Tara half-stuttered, half yelled, "Buffy. She's not herself. A demon's possessed her."

When she saw that there were lots of other people in the room besides just Buffy, Tara added, "Something possessed my girlfriend to kick me in the head. Maybe magic mushrooms? We ate some mushrooms, didn't we? Maybe they were bad."

"Your girlfriend." Jack O'Neil mumbled, "Right."

The members of SG1 looked at each other and a range of emotions passed over their faces.

Carter and Daniel Jackson showed the most emotion of the four but weren't exactly drama queens either. They were professionals who dealt with situations like this on an almost weekly basis.

In the back, Teal'c didn't show anything too drastic but the subtle clenching of his jaw gave away the fact that he was still a living breathing human being and didn't like this new development.

In front, Jack O'Neil ran a hand over his short grey hair and mostly he was wondering how he was going to explain this situation to two civilians who stumbled into something over their heads.

Another part of him was hating the fact that he wasn't fighting the Goa'uld on someone else's planet. This was Nevada! It was sheer luck by the Goa'uld that they got this close but this can't happen again. It shouldn't have happened this time. This was his home.

"This may come as a shock to you but.." Jack started but was interrupted by Buffy.

"They're aliens." said Buffy, not shocked.

O'Neil nodded, "That's right. They're aliens. What happened to your friend, Willow. One of these aliens took control of her."

"But it's okay." Carter interrupted, "If we find her, we can take it out of them."

"You can?" Buffy asked, "Oh. Okay. That's good. We like that. Let's do that."

"But firstly, we need to find her." Jack told them, "Could you tell us what Willow looked like?"

"Red hair. About my size." Buffy said as she took out a wallet and showed them a group picture, "There she is. The one with red hair."

O'Neil nodded as a soldier next to him wrote down the details.

"So what is the army going to do with us?" Buffy asked, "We're not possessed, right?"

"We're not the army. We're air force" Jack said, uncomfortably "And you're fine. You're not possessed. But the government has this problem with civilians running around talking about aliens. So we'll just go out and do our best to detain, uh, your loved one."

"She's not my girlfriend." Buffy told them out of the blue, "Just wanted to be clear here. I'm straight."

"Me too." Jack replied.

Then Buffy realized something.

"You expect us to sit on our laurels while our friend is out there possessed by some demon?" Buffy asked them.

"It's not a demon. It's an alien. And yes. I do." O'Neil said firmly.

"This is rubbish." Tara fumed.

Tara felt Buffy's hand on her shoulder and she turned to her friend.

" Tara. It's okay. We should do what they say." Buffy told then winked with the side of her face that the SGC personnel couldn't see, "So, we'll just be calm down, be quiet and let them get on with their jobs. Okay?"

Tara bit her bottom lip anxiously but nodded, "You're right. We shouldn't waste anymore of their time."

"I'm sure there's a lot of questions you have –" Daniel said, only to be interrupted by Buffy.

"No, we don't. You can answer our questions after you find our friend for us. Until such time, I suggest you put every available man on the street looking for her."

Daniel looked to Jack with a bemused look.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked.

"Totally." Buffy clarified, "So get going."

"Firstly, how did you get all the way out here?" Carter asked them, "Did you come in a car?"

Buffy looked to Tara and then shook her head, "No. We hiked."

"You hiked?" O'Neil asked, "You two?"

Buffy and Tara nodded together.

"Jackson." one of the medics called to the archaeologist, "We found this artifact next to the blonde girl. We thought it might be of Goa'uld origin."

"No. It's mine." Tara said quickly.

Daniel looking at Scythe curiously.

"Really? This is an interesting artifact. Where did you get it from?"

" Tara's family heirloom." Buffy told him, "Been in the Maclay family for ages. Useful for chopping wood."

Jack shrugged, "Okay then. That's all we have to ask right now. We'll go find your friend. She can't have gone far."

"Don't worry. Everything will be explained to you shortly." Daniel said but didn't get any reply.

With no other reason for being there, SG1 left the helicopter along with a few other personnel who went their separate ways to another part of the operation.

After they left, the helicopter's back closed up and started to take off.

Outside the freight helicopter, Daniel turned to the rest of his team and asked "Umm, did they strike you as .."

"Hot lesbians?" Jack asked, "Just slightly."

Daniel sighed and shook his head, "No. Well, maybe. No, what I meant to say was, did they strike you as somewhat unusual for people who just had a brush with a Goa'uld?"

Teal'c frowned, "I do not believe there is anything usual about a near death experience."

"Teal'c's right." Carter supported the Jaffa, "People act in unpredictable ways after a traumatic experience. You could also factor in that it's their first brush with aliens and the fact that they've been eating magic mushrooms."

"Those girls aren't what bothers me." Jack said, catching the other's attention as he looked across the crash site.

"Then what is troubling you?" Teal'c asked.

"The crash site." Jack replied, "We know that some of the Jaffa were knocked unconscious by the crash. Some died. So why is it we've got a bunch of them outside all dead? We didn't kill them. They couldn't have all stumbled outside and died."

"That is unusual." Teal'c admitted while everyone else thought about it.

What SG1 didn't know was they weren't all dead.

One of the Jaffa who had been knocked back against a tree got up, screaming and scrambling for a weapon.

Before he could get to one, two of the strike members tackled him along with one of support personnel.

Screaming, he struggled but in his battered and bruised state, the Jaffa was easily outmatched.

As the soldiers held the Jaffa down, SG1 walked over to them, along with quite a few of the others, curious as to what the Jaffa had to say.

"How do you do these things again?" Jack asked himself as he leant down and pushed the buttons on both sides of the helmet that made the Jaffa's cobra helmet retract.

Inside, there was a weakened and average Jaffa with a wild look in his eyes, as if he had just survived a crash landing only to be beaten close to death by a little blonde girl.

"Arihan! Arihan!" the Jaffa yelled at them and laughed, mostly at Teal'c, "Shofa! You don't know what you've unleashed. The Arihan will kill you all. Haha. All of you are fools."

The Jaffa laughed some more then started a coughing fit. The medics came in and got into tying the Jaffa down onto a stetcher.

"Arihan?" Daniel asked Teal'c, "I don't know that one."

Teal'c frowned, "I hope that he merely delirious."

"Why?" Jack asked, "Is it bad."

"Arihan is an ancient myth." Teal'c explained, "The Arihan was a goddess of destruction that the Tauri unleashed against the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld feared her so much that they hid from her. Once Arihan couldn't find the Goa'uld she turned her sights back against the Tauri, destroying their world hundreds of times over while the Goa'uld laughed at them from above."

Daniel clicked his fingers, "Oh. I did read about that. I just forgot."

"So it's a bad thing?" Jack asked, "Then I guess it's a good thing that the dying Jaffa is just hallucinating from his head injury."

"Yeah." Carter agreed as everyone else tried to ignore what the Jaffa had said.

This went on for a few more seconds until Carter said, "We should put this in our report. Just in case."

"You're right." Jack sighed as Daniel noticed something on the ground.

Crouching down, Daniel picked up a bloody piece of wood. It wasn't entirely natural. It had been whittled down to a sharp end and had originally been varnished. Perhaps it was originally part of a chair leg.

"Uh, guys." Daniel said as he noticed a Jaffa with a hole through it's metal armor just about the right size for the stake, "How strong do you think you'd have to be to shove this through a Jaffa's breastplate?"

The rest of the team looked at the piece of wood and the corresponding wound.

"Okay, someone's seen too many vampire movies." Jack said dryly.

While the SG team where busy contemplating the case of the vampire jaffa, the freight helicopter that was supposed to be going back to base had turned around and flew over them.

With all the air traffic, no one thought anything of it.

OXOXOX

Inside the helicopter cockpit.

"Just don't kill me. I've got a family."

"Me too." Buffy said happily as she pointed the pilot's own gun at him, "See, we're like bonding already."

The pilot looked back at the two medical personnel who were duct taped into bundles and then duct tapes to the wall in a sitting position. They looked like flies caught by a spider.

There was also the soldier who had been handcuffed to the low ceiling. Swinging loosely as he was unconscious.

"Do you know anything about helicopters?" Buffy asked Tara, "Don't they have a tracking beacon in them or something?"

Tara shrugged, horrified at being asked, "I don't know. Technology is Willow's thing... Oh. Hang on. Here it is. Under this dashboard. Right here."

Tara touched an empty section of dashboard with her finger.

Buffy looked at her curiously, "Are you joking or serious? I can't tell."

"Serious." Tara told her, "The scythe is picking up its transmission. It must have something to do with how it's a big long metal shaft."

Buffy looked at her oddly.

"I think it works like an antennae." Tara explained.

"Ah." said Buffy then smashed through the dashboard with her hand and pulled large black box out of it.

"Well. This is probably it." Buffy guessed then opened a window which made air blast into the cockpit and send papers flying. Acting quickly, she threw the box out the window and closed it again. Then she went to fixing her hair, along with Tara.

"So. Plan?" Buffy asked Tara, "I'm thinking we call up Giles. All we need to do is find my cell phone."

"I'll find it." Tara told her, "You keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't radio anyone."

Buffy pulled part of the radio off from the dash and smiled, "Done and done."

Not for the first time, the air force employees stared at Buffy in horror at the ease with which she broke their equipment.

" Tara." Buffy called to her as she moved to the back of the plane.

"Yes?" Tara asked.

"We'll get her. We'll save her."

"I know."

"All we need to do is find her." Buffy told her, "Which is the hard part."

Tara chuckled, "No it's not."

"It's not?" Buffy asked then smiled brightly, "Oh, I know what you're thinking. Gotcha."

OXOXOX

It was still a sleepy Saturday in Sunnydale at the magic box when the phone rang.

"Hello. You've reached the magic box." Giles said politely as he picked up the phone.

"Giles." said Buffy.

"Buffy?" Giles asked, "Xander's been trying to get a hold of you all day."

"I haven't had my cell phone." Buffy explained "But look, something's happened to Willow. We need some intel right now."

" Willow?" Giles asked, sitting up more alert, "Of course. Tell me what happened."

"It was an alien. The air force call them the Goa'uld."

"Goa'uld? Doesn't ring a bell. They're aliens? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Buffy yelled, "I could tell by the big shiny spaceship they came in on. The air force think they're aliens the burrow into your head and control your body. One of them got into Willow. We've got to get to her before the air force does. They might shoot her or she might shoot them. By now, I'm sure the air-force are after us too."

Giles took in a deep breath, "I, um, this is new territory. I'm not sure if I would have anything on aliens."

"The air force seemed pretty familiar with them so you must have something about them. We need to fix Willow before that thing inside her gets her killed."

"Buffy." Giles said gravely, "We have to consider the possibility that Willow's already dead."

"No. No, she isn't. The air force guys said they could get it out if they found her. So all we need to do is find her an either do a spell or hand her over to them."

"Where are you now?"

"In a stolen chopper." Buffy said easily.

"Buffy. Since when can you fly a helicopter?" Giles asked her.

"Oh, we stole the pilot too. Look. Can't hold on much longer. My batteries are running out. I'll call you back on a land line."

Giles tried to rub the frown out of his forehead, "Be careful. I'll see what I can find."

When Giles put down the phone, he had Harmony and Anya looking at him for answers.

"What happened to Willow?" Anya asked first.

"She's been possessed by something called a Goa'uld. Ever heard of them?"

Anya's face twisted as she tried to remember something, "Yeah. It sounds familiar. Don't know where from though."

"I've never heard of them." Harmony said blankly.

"So, it's onto the books?" Anya sighed, "Great."

Giles nodded to her as he thought over his options.

OXOXOX

The chase mansion.

"Sssh." Faith hushed Dawn gently, "You might wake the dead."

Dawn chuckled, "I thought you liked Spike."

Faith smirked, "He's not too bad but he needs his rest after what I did to him."

"You just have to tell me every little detail."

Faith continued smirking, "Maybe later but first, you've got a mission."

Dawn frowned, "I don't know. What if he doesn't like me?"

"He's a guy." Faith said, rolling his eyes, "Of course he likes you."

Faith took her favorite leather duster off Dawn's back. It was her favorite because she had just nicked it from Spike when he was sleeping.

Dawn didn't look convinced at Faith's argument.

"I have a highly fuckable ass." Faith instructed Dawn, "Repeat it."

"I havey higher fuckapuppy ass." Dawn chuckled.

Faith looked at Dawn, nodded and slapped her gently on said ass, "Good enough. Now go get him."

"But.."

"Oh. Almost forgot." Faith said, pulling two condoms out of her back pocket, "Can't rely on the guys for these."

Dawn took the condoms and put them in her back pocket tentatively.

"Go on, Pippi Longstockings. Take a chance." Faith urged her, "Mush. Mush."

Dawn sighed and trudged across the room to Tell's room.

"Confidence." Faith called after her, "Confidence is the key."

When she reached Tell's door, she knocked and looked for Faith who was now gone.

Tell opened his door dressed casually in a white silk shirt and some jeans.

He'd been experimenting with his wardrobe at Buffy's request but nowhere near as much as Dawn was right now.

"Dawn." Tell said with a slight intake of breath at the sight of her.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure. Come in." Tell invited her into his room and turned away as he walked into the center of his remarkably empty room.

"You know, my sister said some things about you." Dawn said, her voice not accusingly but playful

"Oh?" Tell replied, uncomfortably, trying not to look too closely at Dawn.

"Yeah. Like how you're a demon and really really old."

"That's all true." Tell said, easily.

"Is it hard being so old but looking so young?" Dawn asked him as she walked around him in a slow circle.

"Sometimes."

"Buffy also said that you live off other people. People who get close to you." Dawn said, moving closer to Tell.

"In a way." Tell said, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Dawn's proximity.

"So, right now you're feeding off me?" Dawn asked him as she put her hands on his shoulders.

"I-I can't really control it." Tell told her.

Dawn studied his response, "So how do I taste?"

Tell's eyes flashed opened wide and he shook his head, "It's not like that. I'm not like that. I don't hang around you to feed off you."

"It's just a question." Dawn told him as she rubbed his shoulders, "Please. Just tell me."

"I uh.. if I close my eyes and focus, I can tell you." Tell told her.

Dawn smiled, "Good then. Close your eyes."

Tell closed his eyes and calmed himself, just as he had done when he held the scythe the first time he saw it.

His head rolled back slowly and his breathing deepened, "Wow. That's not what I was expecting."

Dawn put her hand on the back of his head to keep him level and asked "What do you mean?"

"You're so vibrant." Tell said as a smile crept onto his mouth, "So bright and alive."

"Do you like how I feel?" Dawn asked him as she inched closer to him.

Seemingly lost in some vision, Tell smiled, "Yes. You're so shiny and electric. I've never felt anything like it."

"You want to feel more of me?" Dawn whispered as she slowly leant into him and kissed him on the mouth.

Tell moaned and kissed her back, wrapping her arms around her waist and pressing her body close to his.

For her first kiss, it was everything Dawn thought it should've been.

It's sweet and passionate and natural and –

"No!" Tell yelled, pushing Dawn away with such force she fell off her feet and onto her backside.

Looking back at him in shock, Dawn found Tell shaking his head and covering his face.

"You can't. Not with me." he growled.

"Tell. It's okay." Dawn told him, "I know you're a demon. I'm not afraid."

"Then you're a fool."

Dawn laughed, "You're being a little dramatic."

Turning away, he talked to a wall.

"I can't give you what you want. I can't give you a family or grow old with you or even love you the way you deserve."

"I just want you." Dawn said sullenly from where she was sitting on the floor.

"I can't love you."

"Yes, you can."

"You obviously have no idea what I am."

Tell's cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his back pocket to answer it.

"WHAT?" he asked angrily.

He stood there for a second listening to the reply.

"Did you just say Goa'uld?" Tell asked then added " Willow? No. That's not good."

" Willow?" Dawn asked and Tell looked over to her, with a torn look on his face.

"Of course I'll help." Tell told the cellphone, "I'm no expert but I know someone who is."

OXOXOX

"The Arihan?" Jacob Carter asked Daniel Jackson as they walked up the flight of stairs to the star gate's briefing room, "Why would you want to know about them?"

"A crazy Jaffa blurted something out." muttered Jack, "And you know Daniel. Once he gets his teeth into a mystery, he's like a pitbull."

Teal'c, Jack O'Neil, George Hammond and some other star gate personnel were there. One of them was holding an icepack to his eye.

"Jacob, we've got quite a situation." Hammond told Jacob Carter as he came into the briefing room with his daughter and Daniel Jackson tagging along.

"So I hear. A Goa'uld running free on American soil." Jacob said grimly.

"It seems to be a little more complicated than that." Hammond replied, "We also have two civilians on the lamb. One of them overpowered the people who should have been keeping an eye on them and hijacked the helicopter they were being transported in."

Jacob looked at the soldier holding the icepack to his face, "Ouch. I thought you would have had some means of detecting for Goa'uld at the crash site."

"We did." a medic said, who was sitting across from the bruised soldier, "And she didn't have one."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "You got beat up by one of those two blondes?"

The soldier nodded, "Only a girl could give me a head ache this big."

"It was the smaller one too." the medic added, "I've never met anyone so strong. Except maybe Teal'c."

Teal'c nodded slightly with a pleased smile, "She must indeed be a powerful warrior."

"Excuse me?" Samantha asked them, "Are we talking about the small skinny blonde with no muscle mass to speak of? The one with the Californian accent?"

"You're not really helping here." groaned the soldier with the icepack.

"I'm sorry. It's just.. uh.." said Sam, not really sure what point she was trying to make.

"Bizarre?" Daniel asked, "And call me crazy but I don't think that Jaffa was talking about the Arihan for no reason. Whatever it is, I think it might have possessed that girl."

"That's impossible." Jacob said to the room, "An Arihan hasn't been sighted for millennia."

"Since we have you here, perhaps you can fill us in on what precisely the Arihan was." George Hammond asked of Jacob.

Jacob sat down in a chair at the meeting room and spoke.

"The Arihan were believed to be a Goa'uld experiment in creating a new type of Ashrak. An assassin. For all appearances they were normal human girls but they had the strength, endurance and healing capabilities of a Goa'uld but none of the genetic memories. Most of all, no Goa'uld parasite."

"Are you sure they weren't just drugged up?" Jack asked.

Jacob shrugged, "The Tok'ra have never had one to analyze so your guess is as good as mine. Quite possibly it was a combination of gene therapy and a body altering regime of drugs. The Arihan were notoriously dangerous and uncontrollable individuals."

"But if they're just as strong as a Goa'uld then why would they so dangerous?" Daniel asked, "The Goa'uld have Jaffa and they could fight easily on more than equal terms with them, couldn't they?"

Jacob smiled, "You might not have noticed but Goa'uld tend to have shockingly bad reflexes. It's the nature of the link they have with their hosts. The Arihan had no such problem. In fact, they were better fighters than most Jaffa."

"So how many were made?" Sam asked

Jacob looked thoughtful, "I wouldn't know. Very many. All of them women."

O'Neil coughed, "Dangerous and uncontrollable women? I think I might have married one."

"It's highly unlikely that we have a Arihan on our hands." Jacob told them, "Whoever the insane Goa'uld was that created them to begin with is long dead. There haven't been any since the Goa'uld left earth."

"And since when do Goa'uld assassins wear pink?" Sam supported her father's point of view, "And label jeans?"

"Since when do Californian blondes pull rip apart a radio with their bare hands?" Jack asked Samantha right back, "Or since when do they overwhelm twice their number in men by sheer physical strength alone?"

Samantha shrugged, "I've been known to."

"But you're trained for that." Jack told her.

"And she was definitely not human." the medic told them, "She took out Gavin in one punch."

"Keep that to yourself, would you?" the guy with the icepack said across from him.

Teal'c was frowning, "Would it be possible that this Arihan cannot die from age?"

Everyone looked at him and he explained himself, "If they were given Goa'uld attributes perhaps they also gained longevity. We could be dealing with an Arihan that is thousands of years old."

Jacob shook his head, "Not unless she has access to a sarcophagus. Even if the goa'uld were embedded into her genetic make up she would still die from old age. Even the Tok'ra age albeit very slowly compared to their human hosts. I still don't believe we have a Arihan on our hands."

"Did you tell Jacob about the little Jaffa massacre?" Jack asked Carter who shook her head.

"What do you mean?" Jacob followed up.

"There were Jaffa outside of the crashed ship, almost all of them dead by what appears to be a wooden stake being jammed into their hearts." said Sam, "We know how that sounds."

"One had the back of his skull caved in with a rock." Jack added, "One died from a broken neck while still wearing his helmet and one almost got cut in half. Probably by that weird shiny axe that Daniel gave back to the girls."

"How was I to know they were dangerous?" Daniel asked, guiltily.

Jacob frowned. This trip back to earth was getting stranger by the second.

The door opened to the briefing room and the soldier that came through saluted smartly, "Sir. The surviving Jaffa is awake. The medical team say he's stable."

"Good." Hammond said to the soldier, "It's time we got some answers."

OXOXOX

The Magic box.

Most of the Scoobies were at the magic box including Dawn but excluding Spike and the trio in Nevada.

Dawn had put a blue shirt over the corset and had scrubbed off a lot of the makeup Faith had painted onto her. It was an attempt to look somewhat decent but that only just made her look a bit weird. She and Tell weren't talking.

Xander wasn't talking to Tell either. He was standing with Tell's back to him so Tell wouldn't see the weird looks he was giving him.

Tell himself seemed to be having a very grumpy day.

It might have had something to do with who was on the phone.

"Hey Twist, you probably don't remember me but it's Anyanka." Anya said into the speaker phone, "We met in the seventies when I was a demon."

"Anyanka? The vengeance demon? Oh yeah. I remember you. I've still got a lot of pleasant memories from that night." Twist said back. His voice was vibrant, confident and insinuating. He also had a light European accent.

Anya grinned wickedly, "Yeah. That was one hell of a party. Are you still being friends with that demon girl with the batwings?"

"You mean Betsy? Well, we're having some trouble at the moment. You know how it is but I'm sure we'll get past our differences."

"You should. You two make such a nice couple."

"Thanks and how about you? Still single and man-hating?"

"No. I left that behind once I became human again. Now I've bagged myself a real hottie. He recently became the mayor of Sunnydale."

"Wow. It sounds like your life just did a 360. But you sound happy so I'm happy for you. Oh and if you two get hitched, call me. You wouldn't believe the connections I have in the wedding industry. I know this one Latvian in Kazakhstan of all places. He's does the most incredible work with blood larvae bridal gowns."

"Really?" Anya asked, considering this, "Alright. We will."

Dawn looked across the room where Xander's left eye was ticking nervously.

"Excuse me but we didn't have you call us for wedding tips." Giles scolded Twist, "We have a very serious situation here."

"Yeah, I guess you do." Twist said casually, "I really thought we'd seen the last of the Goa'uld."

"What can you tell me about them?" Giles asked.

"Uh. They're assholes." Twist told him, "And I suggest you try killing them. Just point Tell towards them. He's the one who likes to break skulls out of the two of us."

"That's not what I-" Giles said but was cut off by a long series of drones coming from the phone, "Oh. That must be Buffy. Hold on the line please."

Giles pushed a button on the complicated phone system Xander had installed for Giles at the magic box and soon Buffy was on the phone.

"Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Yeah. It's me." Buffy told him, "Hey, Did you know that Nevada had cities? Like actual cities? With buildings and things?"

Giles sighed, "Yes. I did. Buffy, we've got something of an expert for the Goa'uld on the other line, I'll just.. Ugh, stupid gadget."

"Allow me." Harmony told him and pushed two button which turned on the speaker phone and linked the two phone lines together, "Secretary extraordinaire strikes again."

"Hello?" Twist tested the line, "Arrr good. I'm back."

"Tell?" Buffy asked, "Tell's the expert."

"No." Tell said bluntly, "It's my twin brother, Twist."

"Oh." Buffy gasped, "You mean the one who's a .."

"Whore?" Twist asked her, "Yup. That's me, the whore. I really like using that word. Whore. It's even better when people call me it, you know?"

"Really?" Faith said, giving Tell a leer.

"Don't even think about it." Tell growled at her, "Not in the mood."

"So what can you tell me about the Goa'uld?" Buffy asked across the phone.

"That they're bad." Twist said in a silly manner, "Bad, bad things."

Tell sighed, "Twist. Stop playing around."

"Oh alright." said Twist's identical voice, "The Goa'uld are an amphibious, finned, three eyed eel. Using a unique system of lateral compression it can burrow it's way through the soft flesh of the neck and brain with minimal damage to it's host. The usual Goa'uld wraps itself around the base of the skull, latching onto the spinal column and controlling the nervous system directly through that link while simultaneously putting it's host into a fugue state and making it easier to control."

Twist took in a breath and continued while everyone else listened.

"When someone is possessed by a Goa'uld you can expect them to be stronger, faster, have greater endurance and healing abilities but this isn't anything compared to the Goa'uld biggest threat. They are extremely intelligent. Um, maybe intelligent isn't the right word. From what I can tell, the average Goa'uld is quite dull but their knowledge is passed on from generation to generation in an almost perfect genetic process. That knowledge has accumulated so much that they know how to build technology that you wouldn't believe."

"Like spaceships?" Buffy asked.

"Precisely like spaceships." Twist told her, "Also, they'll know everything that their host knows."

"But Willow's like the smartest person I know. She's a genius." Buffy said, the worry thick in her voice, which was mirrored by the looks on the Scoobies faces.

"If the demon knows everything Willow knows..." Xander said, not saying what was on everyone's mind.

But Dawn said it out loud, "She knows lots of magic."

"Lots of magic." Harmony added, "And curses."

Twist chuckled, "Just because the Goa'uld knows about magic doesn't mean he can do it. See, that's one of the things that so dumb about the Goa'uld. They don't believe in magic. They think demons are just failed experiments which no one cleaned up. Which is actually not too far from the truth now that I think of it."

"Do I have to worry about this Goa'uld thing making more Goa'uld?" Buffy asked

"Doubtful." twin said, thinking about it, "The chances of your friend being possessed by a queen are almost nonexistent. But one thing to look out for is that they can swap bodies easily. The little eels might look weak but you'd be surprised how far they can jump at you. So whatever happens, don't let yourself get possessed. A Goa'uld Slayer isn't something I want to think about."

"Have you got any idea on how we can stop her without killing her?" Buffy asked.

"Hmm. A tranquilizer won't work." said Twist, "You can make the host's body go asleep but they've got a different biochemistry. If it realizes that you want to dig it out of it's hosts head then it can burrow itself deeper into the brain and then it's unlikely you'll ever be able to get it out. What you want to do is knock out the Goa'uld without harming the host."

"Do you know how to do that?" Buffy asked.

"Yes but.. it's a little tricky. The host is a girl, isn't she?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?" Giles asked.

"It'll make what we have to do a lot easier. Have you got a pen and paper?" Twist asked.

"Hang on.. Hang on a second. Yes! Got it." Buffy said triumphantly.

"Good." the twin said with humor, "Well. The first thing we need to do is get her pregnant."

There was a long pause until Giles said "Pardon me?"

OXOXOX

A dark dingy garage full of old computer equipment and motor parts.

The Goa'uld inside Willow was making her smile as she soldered a piece of electronic equipment.

It's host was brilliant but entirely insane. Even more so than most human cattle

She believed in not only one false religion but several. Her mind was a chaotic mess of magic, spells and prophecies. Her memories, drug induced visions of demons and things from beyond.

Even now she was concocting theories about her demon abductor. Little did she know that she was in the presence of no mere demon but a true god.

At least, he was a god when compared to her pitiful human brain.

She was also a lesbian which made no biological sense whatsoever.

The Goa'uld laughed at the idea of vampires. The idea that a creature would explode into flames when it's touched by sunlight is absurd. By the fact her vampires are stronger and have a vastly different personality to the original host, they were obviously tales of the Goa'uld handed down the ages by word of mouth, changing with each retelling. Although an inventive lie, these vampires were but a weak attempt to instill the fear the Goa'uld deserve.

What the parasite found most funny of all was Willow's totally ridiculous belief that her friends would save her. He tried to crush the thought by pointing out her friends were powerless against him but she rebelled with a litany of delusions.

Finally he relented, knowing there would be time to tame her later.

All thoughts of this stopped when the garage door opened and the Goa'uld spun around to see the roller door folded open to reveal Tara standing there.

The Goa'uld blinked.

"How did you find me?" the confused Goa'uld asked in it's stony creepy voice.

"Magic." Tara said, holding up Willows favorite orb.

"This planet doesn't have that technology."

"You do understand what magic means, don't you?" Tara asked it as Buffy tackled Willow from the side, knocking her off her seat onto the floor.

Willow laughed, "It is of no use! I am vastly stronger than.. Stop that! How are you doing that? This is impossible!"

Now Buffy was laughing as she held Willow down, " Tara. Do it now."

Tara took a large syringe out and pulled the safety tap off the needle, "I'm sorry honey. This is the only way."

" Tara." Willow spoke, her voice back to normal, " Tara. What happened? The demon. It's gone. It's gone. Oh no. It's in Buffy."

Tara faltered, not sure what to do.

'What!" Buffy shrieked, "No, it isn't gone. I'd know. You're trying to trick us."

"No. It's you who is trying to trick us." Willow shot back.

Buffy snorted, "Yeah. Whatever. Hey, while we're talking, I was wondering. How did you get away from the air force goons?"

"I hotwired your convertible." Willow grinned, "Your puny technology isn't fit to wash my feet. Now that I'm trapped in a world full of it and you incessantly underdeveloped apes, it's all I can do not to retch-Mmfh-Mmumuh!"

The Goa'uld's ramble was stopped when Buffy covered Willow's mouth with her hand.

"God. Do all you Goa'uld ramble on or is Willow starting to get to you?" Buffy sighed, " Tara. Stab her already."

Tara came forward with the syringe and the Goa'uld stayed relatively calm. The slight twinkle in Willow's eyes showed that she thought she was being underestimated.

Tara knew they had estimated her just right.

"Sorry Willow. This might hurt a bit." Tara said, wincing as she poked the syringe into Willows gut and emptied the contents into her.

Then she pulled out the syringe and they waited.

Buffy took her hand off Willows mouth and pulled her back up to her feet.

"How do you feel?" Tara asked.

"Good! I'm back." Willow said with a smile, "You did it. I don't know how but you did it."

Grinning like an idiot, Tara hugged Willow and by sheer coincidence Buffy as well. Frowning, Buffy let go of Willow to let her hug back.

"I was so worried." Tara whimpered.

"It's okay now." Willow comforted Tara as her voice became slightly more steely, "It's going to just.. fine."

Buffy turned around just in time to see Willow taking a screwdriver off a bench. She dove and grabbed Willows hand before she could stab Tara with it.

Willow and Buffy struggled with the screwdriver and at first Tara didn't understand what was going on. Then she screamed as Willow grabbed her by the hair.

"The presumption!" Willow roared at her in anger, "I'm a GOD! You can't kill me."

Then Willow suddenly became weak and in the struggle, Buffy threw her out of the garage into the street. Buffy and Tara blinked as Willow got back up, glaring at them.

"I'll teach you to, uh." the Goa'uld said angrily but started to falter as it's world lost focus, "What did you do to me?"

She slumped to one knee and her eyes rolled back into her head and Buffy and Tara raced out to catch her from falling.

Buffy's head whipped up from Willow as soldiers swarmed towards them from both sides of the street. Some on foot, some in cars. One of the cars skidded to a halt near them and opened up with even more soldiers coming out of it.

"Whass happening?" Willow asked, obviously now herself, "Demon inside me. Have to get it out."

"Don't worry." Buffy told her, "Help's on the way."

"That's them!" one of the soldiers yelled, "Fire!"

"What?" Buffy yelled as she got up to run for cover and Tara just screamed.

Two of the soldiers fired upon them with silenced rifles and something hit Buffy in the leg but she kept running until her leg went numb and she fell over onto someone's lawn. Looking back, she saw that Tara and Willow never even got the chance to run.

"Don't. Please." Buffy begged as a soldier came up to her and fired at her from close range.

OXOXOX

Buffy yawned tiredly and tried to roll over onto her side but found that she couldn't.

"Huh?"

Frowning she opened her eyes and found herself strapped down into a gurney in a concrete room.

Buffy groaned, "My day just keeps getting better and better."

"Oh. You're awake." Dr Frasier noticed and walked over with a glass of water, "Here. Drink this."

Buffy drank the water the doctor gave her and gave her thanks, "Thanks. My throat was a bit dry. Now how about these restraints?"

"In time." Frasier told her, "But trust me when I say that they're for your own protection."

Then the woman doctor turned to an intern and said "Go alert the general to Miss Summer's status."

Across the room, Buffy noticed that Tara and Willow were both in gurneys but only Tara was strapped down as much as Buffy. Unlike Buffy, they weren't awake yet.

"I don't think I need any protecting." Buffy told her.

"Just relax. You're safe here." Frasier said with a soothing bedside manner, "I understand that you've been through a traumatic experience but it's over now. We'll find out what happened to you and we'll try our best to reverse it."

"I'm not really sick." Buffy explained.

"It's okay." Frasier told her, "Just lie back and relax. We'll sort this out soon."

Buffy sighed once she realized she wasn't going to get any help from the doctor and Frasier went off to the other side of the room to look at something more interesting than her.

Buffy waited there and relaxed as she was told. Tugging gently at the restraints, she realized that they were strong enough to hold her, which was more than a little worrying for Buffy.

OXOXOX

Daniel Jackson read from a printout as the members of SG1, Jacob Carter, another Tok'ra and General Hammond walked along the big arched corridors of the SGC on their way to the med-lab.

"Burnt down her school gym when she attended Hemery High. Then was institutionalized by her parents for acute paranoid delusional behavior. Was released after a short period and after that her slate was wiped clean. As with Tara Maclay and Willow Rosenburg, Buffy Summers has been given a sparkling commendation by the Mayor of Sunnydale for her civil spirit and her work with the neighborhood watch. There is also the same note that if she is found dead, unconscious, with amnesia or found breaking the law, to call the Mayor of Sunnydale immediately."

"Something smells here." General Hammond said, "And I intend to get to the bottom of it."

"Indeed." Teal'c said as they walked into the med lab and confronted Buffy in her bed.

"That's her?" Jacob asked, "You weren't kidding, Jack. She is small."

"I have rights, you know." Buffy pouted, "You can't keep me like this."

"We just want a few answers." Hammond told her, "Such as why did you hijack one of our helicopters?"

"To save my friend from you guys." Buffy told him, "We found her first and knocked the Goa'uld out without harming her. You didn't need to come in shooting us with tranquilizers.'

"How did you supposedly knock out the Goa'uld?" Jacob asked.

Buffy sighed, knowing that she had already in so much trouble, so she decided to go the full nine yards.

"We injected a birth control drug into Willow which made her body think that it was pregnant. Her body produced an enzyme which all people who are pregnant create which has the effect of rendering the Goa'uld unconscious and returning control back to the host."

Jacob looked to the other Tok'ra who said "That's ingenious. We should have thought of that."

"Hold on. How did you think of that?" Daniel asked, "You really must be a Arihan, except you have their genetic memories as well."

Buffy looked at him strangely, "What did you call me?"

Samantha Carter stepped forwards and put her hand on Buffy's as a show of reassurance.

"We believe that the Goa'uld did something to you. That they experimented on you to make you stronger than you were. A lot stronger. Do you remember fighting with the Jaffa after the Tel'tak crashed?"

Buffy frowned then gasped.

"Oh my god. I remember." She acted, "It was like a dream. I was so confused… But I'm better now. Can I go home? I want to see my family. My mom must be worried sick."

Her acting didn't convince everyone.

After a few seconds, Hammond said, "Okay. But we will just talk to your friends in another room when they wake up to corroborate your story."

Buffy groaned, "Fine! The Goa'uld didn't do anything to me in their ship. I didn't even go into it."

"So how did you know to give your friend birth control pills?" Daniel asked.

"I know a friend who knows a friend. Now can I go?"

"I'm afraid not." Hammond told her, "Obviously there is a massive security leak and with your help I would like to rectify it."

Buffy sighed, "Why? It's not like I can just run around saying my best friend got taken over by an alien. People would think I'm crazy."

"And put you in an institution?" Daniel asked, getting a glare from Buffy.

"Precisely." Buffy replied.

"Is that what got you institutionalized to begin with?" Daniel asked.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "No. It was vampires."

"Oh. Vampires." Jack said while almost everyone moved away from Buffy slightly.

"What?" Buffy asked them, "You don't know about vampires."

"I don't." the Tok'ra guy who hadn't introduced himself said, "What are vampires?"

"They're these guys." Buffy chuckled, "They've got sharp teeth and like to drink human blood. You really haven't heard of them? You don't get out much do you?"

"They sound horrid." the Tok'ra told her.

"They're not real." Jacob told his peer, "Obviously her paranoid delusions include vampires in them."

Buffy groaned, "You guys know about these Goa'uld things but not vampires? How the hell is that possible?"

Patting Buffy's hand, Samantha Carter told Buffy as tenderly as possible, "Buffy. Vampires aren't real. You're just confused."

"You really don't know about them?" Buffy asked again, "Weird."

"I've seen some movies with them in." Jack mentioned, getting a glare from Carter.

A soft mumble from the other side of the room and Buffy saw that Tara was awake now too. Obviously she hadn't been shot with anywhere near as many darts as Buffy had been.

" Tara." Buffy called.

"Buffy?" Tara called back, "Where are we?"

"Relax." Doctor Frasier told Tara, giving her some water to help fight the dehydration the darts give.

"It's okay Tara." Buffy called, "Do what she says."

Tara stopped struggling and drank the water.

"Hey. Can someone trundle me sideways towards her?" Buffy asked, rocking sideways in her bindings as if trying to give herself some momentum towards Tara.

Carter moved out of the way while Teal'c and Jacob pushed the gurney's on wheels closer together.

"Hey Tara." Buffy called, softer this time.

Tara blinked, "Where are we? Is this the initiative?"

"Nah." Buffy replied, "The Initiative were army, remember? These guys are air force. They don't even know about vampires."

"Really?" Tara asked, still groggily, "Weird."

"That's what I said."

"You both believe in vampires?" Hammond asked them.

Buffy nodded, "As do most of my family, my friends, a few people I don't call friends-"

"And your ex-boyfriend." Tara piped in.

"Yeah. It would be hard for him not to." Buffy chuckled, "The guy who told me about Goa'uld knows about them too. Also all the vampires I've met know about vampires too. Hey, if you still don't believe me I can show you one. He's called Spike."

Tara gasped, "Buffy. You can't show them Spike."

"Why not?"

"They'll want to.. dissect him or something."

Buffy thought about it, "Vampires can be pretty tough. He might survive it."

"Is this a running joke you play on government officials?" Jack asked them.

"Why did you tell them about vampires?" Tara almost whispered to Buffy but not so quiet that everyone else in the conversation couldn't hear it.

"I thought they knew stuff." Buffy said, exasperated.

"Perhaps you will be more forthcoming than your friend." Hammond addressed Tara, "Could you explain a few things to us. Like how did you find your friend, miss Rosenburg, so fast?"

"L-Luck." Tara stuttered.

"No. Really. How did you do it?" Jack asked.

"Might as well tell them." Buffy told Tara, "What's the worse they can do?"

Tara looked at her frightened, "Dissection."

"We're not going to dissect." Sam told them, "We just want some answers."

Tara sighed, "We found her using magic."

"I'll be in the mess hall in case they say anything worth while." Jack said and walked out of the room.

"My patience is wearing thin." Hammond told the two girls.

"So's mine." Jacob added.

"Show them something magic." Buffy told Tara,

Tara rolled her eyes, "I can't! I've got a splitting headache. Not only that but I'm tied down. Why am I tied down?"

"They think we're dangerous." Buffy explained.

"You are." Carter told them, "We don't even know what you are yet."

'Hu-MAN." Buffy said back.

"And I can't find anything too unusual with her physiology." Frasier said as she walked up with a clipboard, "Unless you count the density of her bones which is denser than it should be for someone with such a small amount of muscle mass. There are a few other discrepancies but nothing too out of the ordinary. Nothing to say that she would be stronger than an average human. The same goes with all three of them."

"See. We're harmless and you're big strong men. So how about letting us out of these beds?" Buffy asked.

Frasier looked to Hammond for a second, which is all it took for the general to concede, "If you're sure, Doctor."

Then the doctor freed Tara, following up by freeing Buffy.

"Why am I getting a sinking feeling?" Daniel asked himself.

"No reason I can think of." Buffy told him with a disarming smile as she hopped off the gurney and stretched.

Tara righted herself and sat on the gurney, asking Frasier about Willow, "Is she going to be okay?"

"The operation was a complete success." Jacob told her, "She's fine, physically speaking."

"Physically speaking?" Tara asked, looking at Jacob skeptically.

"How much do you know about the Goa'uld?" Daniel asked them.

"Until yesterday, nothing at all." Buffy replied, "Why?"

"Maybe we should continue this talk in the briefing room." Hammond suggested, "Where we can show you what the Goa'uld really are."

OXOXOX

Projector room

For a good portion of time, Daniel explained the Goa'uld to the two blondes as he had done on countless other occasions

The Goa'uld were the scourge of the galaxy, enslaving humanity and proclaiming themselves gods with the aid of incredibly advanced technology that was made to look like magic. . He explained the star gate, went over their first mission on Abydos for the historical feel.

For the most part, Buffy was taking all this in quite easily but when Daniel explained what the Jaffa were, Buffy paled.

"Those guys I killed were human?" Buffy asked, "All of them?"

Daniel looked at her, confused, "So you did fight them?"

"I didn't know they were human!" Buffy yelled, "If I did, I wouldn't have been trying to kill them."

"They would have surely killed you and your friends then." Teal'c told her steely, "They were aiding an invading Goa'uld escape. Whatever your personal code of honor is, stopping the Goa'uld was more important than it."

Tara put her hand over Buffy's, feeling her pain, "Buffy. He's right. They could've killed us if it weren't for you. They almost did kill us."

Buffy frowned deeply, "Maybe. But I don't have to like it."

"I believe you should be worrying more about your friend than yourself." Daniel told Buffy, "She's the real victim here. She's the one who got taken over by one of these monsters."

"I guess you're right." Buffy said, ashamed.

"Survivors of Goa'uld possession are always heavily traumatized by the event." Daniel told her, "When she wakes up, she'll be withdrawn, possibly catatonic. She'll be filled with a sense of abandonment and shame and a lack of self-worth. It's quite likely she won't even want to see you since she hurt you when she was possessed then she would feel that you wouldn't want to see her. If it's even possible, it will take months, maybe even years of counseling before she's back to resembling her usual self. She may never return to how she was before."

Buffy and Tara sat there for a moment of silence, letting this sink in.

There was a knock at the door, which opened to reveal Doctor Frasier.

"There's someone here who wants to see you." she said gently and Willow shuffled into the room then stared at Tara.

Tara slowly stood up, keeping the gaze.

" Willow." Tara said, hopefully.

" Tara." Willow replied, "I'm uh, sorry for pulling your hair and trying to stab you with a screwdriver."

"That's okay. You weren't yourself."

They stood like that for a second and then Willow crashed into Tara, hugging her tightly then kissing her passionately on the mouth.

"I knew you would save me." said Willow then continued kissing her.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked Willow as she came up for air.

"I am now." Willow chuckled.

"Hey Willow." said Buffy then they both hugged too, "Missed you."

"Missed you too." Willow said, beaming a smile.

Daniel Jackson, along with everyone else in the room except Frasier were staring at Willow.

"I think you should take it easy." Daniel told her, "I think you're still in shock from your ordeal."

"Oh yeah, getting possessed by a malignant force. It was tough but what are you going to do?" Willow said dismissively, "Hey, can I get some coffee? Maybe a bagel? I haven't eaten anything much all day."

"Are you really okay?" Tara asked her.

Willow nodded, "It wasn't that bad really. It was just a little wiggly snake that thought it was a god. Man, talk about ego."

" Willow." Buffy asked for her attention, a little more serious now, "We've got a problem. These guys are going to keep us here until they get some answers and they don't know about the things that go bump in the dark."

Willow nodded, "Yeah. Neither did the Goa'uld. That's what the thing in my head was called."

"We know." Tara said with a smile as she stroked Willow's hair with her hand, "They don't know about magic either."

Willow looked to Tara, "We could show them that."

"Are you sure?" Tara asked hesitantly, "Are you ready for that?"

Willow nodded, "As long as we keep it small."

"Some levitation?" Tara suggested.

Willow smiled, "Cool bananas."

"Uh, excuse me." Daniel asked of them, "What are you talking about?"

"We're going to show you some magic." Willow told him, "Since you don't believe in it, it seems to be the easiest way to show you we're not crazy."

"This I have to see." Jacob said as he leant back into his seat.

"Mr Jackson." Tara addresses him, "Could you put your pen on the desk, please?"

Seeing no reason not to do so, he complied.

The two witches linked hands and concentrated gently and lifted the pen into the air with their minds.

It twirled in the air and everyone stared in amazement.

"How are you doing that?" Jacob asked, staring intently.

"Magic." the witches said with one voice, not taking their eyes off the pen.

"We've all seen some things which science couldn't readily explain." said Daniel, staring too, "Such as Oma Desala."

"Yeah but how are THEY doing that?" Sam asked him, "They're normal human beings."

Willow and Tara dropped the pen and turned to Carter.

"You think only demons can do magic?" Willow asked her.

"Uh. That wasn't magic as such." Sam told her, "That was telekinesis. And demons don't exist. Neither do vampires."

"How is telekinesis not magic?" Tara asked Willow quietly.

"You don't think demons and vampires exist?" Buffy asked them, "Hey, I know. You want to meet some?"

"Perhaps they are some form of alien." Teal'c theorized.

"We're not aliens." Willows told him.

"I was referring to these vampires." Teal'c replied.

"Oh." Willow said, "Well. They're not."

"I believe you should have this checked out." Jacob said to Hammond who was nodding in total agreement.

"Look, guys." Buffy said as she stood in front of the projector, "You've been swell letting us stay here and all but we need to get going. We can't sit her playing twenty questions all day because there is things, very important things we have to do."

"You're going nowhere." Hammond told her, "Until you explain what is going on?"

"I don't think you'll understand this." Buffy told him, "But we really have bigger problems than these Goa'uld guys. Problems that you couldn't begin to imagine."

"Buffy." Willow said, interrupting Buffy's rant.

"What?"

"It's okay. I think they'll understand how the world is in peril."

Buffy looked at them skeptically, "They would?"

Willow nodded, "They've saved the world a few times themselves."

Buffy stood back a bit and studied them, "Them? But they're so.. military. No offense."

"None taken." Daniel said, perhaps the most non-military person there.

"So how are we going to do this?" Buffy asked them.

"You could start by telling us what you know." Hammond told her.

"How many lifetimes do you have to spend?" Willow asked with a chuckle, "I'm just saying that would take a while."

"You could start with how you defeated almost an entire honor guard of Jaffa." Jacob Carter suggested.

"Right." Buffy said, taking in a deep breath, "In some circles, I'm what is known as the Slayer. I've got super strength, agility, endurance, I heal really fast and I'm really good at kicking butt. The Slayers defend humanity against vampires and demons, evil mages, the occasional werewolf. Pretty much what ever evil throws at us."

"And we're witches." Willow piped in, "And we're her friends. Mostly we help with research."

Buffy smiled at her, "You help in other ways too."

"Emotional support." Tara added.

"Yeah. You do that too." Buffy snickered then turned serious as she addressed the room again, "But right now there's a demon which could be potentially very dangerous. We can't kill him by physical means so we were driving to find help in defeating him. You might not believe me but the fate of the world could be hanging in the balance here. The longer we don't get that help, the more chances he has to make his move. Also, the longer I'm here, the more my duty as the slayer is chucked out the window. So can we make this quick?"

"Exactly how strong are you?" Samantha asked curiously.

Buffy shrugged, "Stronger than the big guy there."

"I find that unlikely." Teal'c told her.

Daniels eye's twinkled for a second then he hid his smile, "I just had a thought. If you're all hungry. Why don't we continue this conversation in the mess hall?"

OXOXOX

Jack O'Neil was sitting in the mess hall, drinking a coffee and reading the newspaper when his team mates and the new comers walked in. The General was still with them, which surprised Jack. He wasn't the type to suffer fools lightly.

Daniel hopped over to Jack's table and sat across from him with a slight smile on his face.

"Hey Jack."

"Daniel." Jack said, only barely looking up at him.

"Do you want to make a bet?" Daniel asked him.

Now Jack looked up at him, "What sort of bet?"

"I bet you that little blonde we found can beat Teal'c in an arm wrestle."

Jack looked at Buffy then looked back at Daniel, "You're nuts. Even if she was a Jaffa it wouldn't make any different."

"Oh." Daniel said with a smirk, "So you don't want to bet?"

"Alright. Bet you a hundred."

"A hundred?" Daniel asked, "I'm not really betting for the money. I just want to see your face when you lose."

"Oh." Jack imitated Daniel, "So you don't want to bet?"

"Fine. You've got a deal but we need to get them to arm wrestle first."

When Buffy got the plate of food, Daniel called her over with a wave.

After everyone settled down, Daniel got talking.

"So, Buffy. Have you ever weighed how much you can lift?"

Buffy shook her head, "It varies on my emotional state at the time. At first I thought it was anger than made me stronger but now I'm not so sure."

"So you really think you could be stronger than Teal'c?" Daniel asked, "He's even stronger than he looks."

Buffy smirked, "But I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"Do you think you could beat him in an arm wrestle?"

Buffy looked at him as she nibbled on a ham sandwich. She took a few more chews and nodded in an I-guess-so way.

"Teal'c." Jack called to the Jaffa on the table behind him, where the witches and the Tok'ra were sitting, "This little girl says she can beat you in an arm wrestle."

"I find that most unlikely." Teal'c said, not baited.

"So why don't you prove it?" Jack prodded him verbally and moved aside to give Teal'c some room at the table.

As Teal'c rose to the challenge, Buffy gave Daniel a mean look, "So, can I bet on myself?"

"She's no fool." Jack snorted, "And sure, I'm betting against you. I don't mind taking your money."

" Willow." Buffy called, "Want to make some easy money? They're taking bets on who can win an arm wrestle out of me and the big guy here."

Hammond sighed. The truth is, he thought such behavior was immature and had no place in the military. But he also knew that the occasional diversion for the troops wasn't a bad thing, even if he didn't enjoy them himself. So, he would stand back and watch over the situation to make sure it didn't get out of hand. He'd deal with it if it did.

In a way, that was his job description, dealing with things before they got out of hand.

Not surprisingly, people jumped at what looked like a suckers bet.

Teal'c didn't though as he found the sole pursuit of money an empty endeavor.

"One bet per person." Jack said out loud, much to the crowd's groan, "It's just a game."

"Hurry up. Lose already." some guy said in the back and Buffy and Teal'c faced off against each other, elbows on the table, hands locked.

Jack put his hands over theirs and said, "Three-two-one-GO!"

At first, neither of them pushed that much and their hands wavered. Then they both started pushing. Teal'c massive muscles clenched rock solid and Buffy's bony arm tightened.

Both of them looked at each other, amazed at how strong they were.

Teal'c strained and started pushing Buffy over.

"Buffy. What are you doing?" Willow asked.

"He's really strong." Buffy said through clenched teeth. Buffy took a few short breaths then really started pushing back. Closing her eyes, she got some extra incentive from somewhere and Teal'c arm was pulled back like Buffy was folding some clothes until his hand hit the table.

"Teal'c." Jack cried at him over the uproar, "What the hell?"

"She bet me." Teal'c replied, shocked himself.

"This is a scam." one of the mess staff said, "Daniel and Jack are paying Teal'c off to take a fall."

Teal'c shot up out of his chair and faced them but said calmly "You are mistaken."

"But there's no way she's that strong." Jack told Teal'c.

Buffy picked up a butter knife from the table, held it in one hand and bent it in half with her thumb like it was nothing.

Almost everyone saw this and went quiet.

Those who didn't see her do that turned in time to see her bend it back straight.

"Are you some sort of robot?" Jack asked.

Buffy chuckled, "No. Although I occasionally fight with them."

"Okay people. Pay up." Daniel called to the crowd.

"That wasn't fair." an off-duty guard said.

Daniel smirked, "That was obvious. It just wasn't unfair the way you thought it was going to be."

With a look of defeat, the air-force personnel paid what they owed to the civilians in the room.

"I am sorry for doubting your strength earlier." Teal'c said to Buffy, as respectfully as he could.

Buffy grinned at him, "Trust me. That goes both ways. You really must work out."

"He's a jaffa." Daniel told her, "And yes, he works out a lot."

"Oh. So you're from another planet?" Buffy asked him, "That's new and interesting."

"So are those two." Willow told Buffy, referring to the two Tok'ra.

"Actually, I'm from earth." Jacob told her, "But my symbiote is alien."

"Your symbiote?" Buffy asked.

"He's a Tok'ra." Willow explained to Buffy, "They're the same race as the Goa'uld but they vary dramatically in their dealings with humanity. They live in symbiosis with their host instead of enslaving them. Their cause is to topple the tyranny of the Goa'uld and they're one of Earth's greatest allies."

Buffy looked at Jacob and his Tok'ra companion oddly then looked at Willow oddly.

" Willow, when did you find that out?" Buffy asked her.

"When I was possessed." Willow said with a smile, "I don't seem to have everything the Goa'uld knew but I learnt a lot off them. Although, I still don't know how to build a spaceship, which is a bit of let down."

Tara chuckled, "I don't either."

Willow smiled at her, "Maybe it'll come back to me later."

"This isn't the place to discuss this." General Hammond said as he sat down in a chair around their table, "But I'd like to you all to think about working here, with us. Obviously there's a great deal we can learn from you. Also, with your unique attributes and skills, you would make a fine addition to the team here."

The three girls looked at each other, each unsure how to answer.

"I can't talk for them but I already have a job." Buffy told him, "We should keep in contact though. Learning is always a good thing."

"Buffy. Tara." Willow addressed them, "Why don't you get the fifty cent tour while I talk to the nice general?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow at her, "You want to work here?"

"No. Well, not yet. But there are some things we have to talk about. Things the Goa'uld knew."

"Oh." said Tara for both of the blondes, "It's okay. We'll be waiting for you."

Willow gave her shoulder a squeeze and a slightly sad look then walked off with the general and the Tok'ra.

"So you guys work with these Tok'ra a lot?" Buffy asked conversationally then went back to eating her sandwich.

"Jacob's my dad, actually." Sam told her, "The one with grey hair. He was dying of cancer and I got it so he could be a Tok'ra."

Buffy and Tara looked at her confused.

"The Tok'ra symbiote can cure cancer and prolong their host's lifespan by around twice as much."

"Oh. Okay." Buffy said, "That's a nice trade off. Though I'm not looking to get all Tok'ra'd up just yet."

"I'm with you on that." Jack told her, "Don't get me wrong. They're great guys but I'm not comfortable with sharing my head with someone else."

"It might get a bit cramped." Tara noted, "There's not a lot of space in someone's head."

Sam chuckled, "Actually a lot of the symbiote hangs down the back of the neck, under the skin. It sounds bad but it's not painful at all, just uncomfortable if someone hugs you around your shoulders. That's why they wear those suits with the stiff collars."

"And you know this how?" Buffy asked.

"She got taken by a Tok'ra." said Daniel.

"This is my story. Can I tell it?" Sam asked him.

"Oh, you're right. Go ahead." Daniel said nodding bashfully.

Sam smiled at him then turned back to the other blondes, "The first time we met the Tok'ra, we didn't know what they were. I gave CPR to a dying man and that's when one of them jumped into me. It realized what would happen if it made itself known to the SGC so it hid, trying it's best to remain hidden and get back to the other Tok'ra. Then there was a Goa'uld assassin which attacked me and the tok'ra died, making sure I wouldn't die with it. That's how we found out about them and why we trust them. They've proven themselves more than a few times."

Buffy nodded, seemingly okay with the idea of the Tok'ra now.

"Okay. I get it. They're good guys too. So.. what do you guys do for fun around here?"

OXOXOX

Continued in next chapter.


	3. Vengeance

An hour later and Buffy was starting to get very agitated in the SGC's parking lot. While the car park was still inside, they could see the twilight of the sun as it crept under the mountains.

Some nice soldier found her car and brought it back to her. It had been hotwired, which meant that it would need a little garage work but besides that, the Goa'uld actually kept it in one piece.

"What do you think they're doing?" Buffy asked Tara.

Tara shrugged and didn't say anything.

Willow chose that time to walk out into the car park with Daniel tagging behind her. He had an overnight bag in his hands.

"Hey Buffy." Willow called, "Do you know where w are? I only just figured it out. We're in NORAD. Isn't that cool?"

Buffy and Tara didn't share her enthusiasm.

"Norad? sounds familiar." Buffy said, tilting her head curiously.

"North American Aerospace Defense Command." Willow said the official title to the base.

Tara frowned, "Wouldn't that be Naardse?"

"That's what I said." Daniel told her, "But everyone just looked at me strange. Stranger than they normally look at me."

"So, what's up, Will?" Buffy asked her friend, "Are we finally going to blow this taco stand?"

Willow nodded, "We just have to bring Daniel with us."

"Huh?" Buffy asked.

"To study magic and the other things you mentioned." Daniel explained.

"You want to become a witch?" Tara asked him.

"Uh no." Daniel said, shaking his head, "Could I?"

"With a lot of time and effort. Everyone has some sort of magical talent." Willow told him, "But let's stick to just the studying part for now."

"Consider yourself one of the girls." Buffy grinned at him, "Come on, Danielle. We're burning daylight just sitting here, yapping. Let's yap on the road."

The girls and Daniel got into the car, with Buffy in the driving seat. Once she saw that their seatbelts were on, she spun wheels and drifted out of the parking space.

They slowly passed through the checkpoints, which infuriated Buffy who just wanted to drive her car like a bullet and they eventually came to the main road where they stopped.

"Uh. Does anyone know where we are?" Buffy asked, "Daniel?"

"Go right." Willow told Buffy, "I'll direct this time. We don't want to get lost again, do we?"

Buffy growled, "Back seat drivers."

But then her growling was cut out by the sound of the car's engine growling and the whine of the tires as she spun the car right and sped off.

"Do you always drive so recklessly?" Daniel asked Buffy as he hung on for dear life.

Buffy looked down to where one of his hands were, "That's my leg you know."

"Sorry." said Daniel, taking that hand and propping it against the dashboard instead.

"Buffy. Can you slow down a little?" Willow asked, "I'm still a little nauseous from having something crawl inside my head."

"Fine." sighed Buffy and then dropped her speed more within the realms of the speed limit.

Turning back to the backseat, Daniel smiled at Willow, "Thanks."

"We think her bad driving has something to do with her enhanced reflexes." Willow told Daniel.

"I'm not a bad driver." Buffy yelled.

"We didn't mean bad as in bad." Tara told her, "We mean bad as in Michael Jackson bad. Dangerous and wearing leather and wielding knives."

Buffy chuckled, "Oh, okay then."

"Back at the base. A thought struck me." Daniel said, out of the blue, "When I first discovered the star gate, I couldn't believe that it existed. I learnt that aliens existed, that there other worlds besides ours which could support life. I've met with some amazing cultures and I've seen some incredible things. I thought I had a good grasp of how the universe is set up. Then you three come along and tell us what you told us. I admit, I'm still a little skeptical but if you're right then this changes everything."

"I think there's always more to discover." said Tara, "In magic, I've found there's always something new, some new angle to look at things from. Even if it doesn't turn out to be useful, I think learning new things makes us better people."

Willow smiled and held Tara's hand then spoke.

"And in science, there's still so much we don't know." Willow said after her, "Even the Goa'uld with their countless millennia of combined knowledge, even they only have a small understanding of how everything works."

"It's like the more you learn, the more you learn there is to learn." Tara said, not so eloquently.

Willow beamed a smile at her, "That's it exactly."

"I'm just wondering what else we don't know about.' Daniel told them.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked him, "Aliens were a bit of a shock but if I thought about it, I would've figured they exist anyway. Just another sort of demon. I reckon if there's anything else out there, I'll see them when I see them."

"You.. You even aren't curious? Are you?" Daniel asked her.

"No. Not really. I've already got enough on my plate, thank you very much."

Daniel frowned and turned to the back seat, "So, vampires and demons? Do vampires really drink blood? And do demons have red skin and horns?"

"Vampires drink blood." Willow told him, "And I don't think I've ever seen a red demon with horns."

"I have." Buffy piped in, "Slayed it too."

"Demons come in many different flavors. Just like people." Willow told him, "Some are big, some are small. Some have fur, some have scales. Some don't look even remotely human. Some look very human."

"Have you been taking any notes?" Daniel asked, "Or have you got any books on them?"

Buffy burst out laughing, along with Willow and Tara who chuckled lightly.

The car swerved a little and Buffy righted it, "Sorry."

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked.

"We've got a lot of books." Willow told him.

"Lots." Tara added.

"I think the term library would be used here." Buffy added after her.

"So there are a lot of different types?" Daniel asked.

"Lots and lots." Buffy said emphatically.

"But our books just aren't entirely on demons." said Willow, "They could be on magic or alchemy or Slayers or other supernatural things."

"Like what?" Daniel asked.

Willow shrugged, "Ghosts. Werewolves. Other stuff that aren't demons."

"Werewolves exist?" asked a surprised Daniel.

"I used to date one." Willow said proudly.

"You'll find that most of the movie monsters exist." Buffy told him, "Evil robots, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, creatures from the black lagoon. The blob."

"The blob!" Daniel asked, "You can't be serious."

"Our one was slightly smaller than the movie and it had teeth instead of just eating everything with acid. It might not have been as good as the movie but it almost got the better of me." Buffy told him, rolling up her sleeve to show the scars along her arm where it had tried to gnaw the meat off the bone.

"Whoa." Daniel said, blinking at the extensive scaring.

"It looked even worse when it happened." Buffy told him, "The hospital thought they'd have to amputate at first."

"So a lot of the bad things from movies exist. What about the good ones?" Daniel asked.

"Like what?" Buffy asked him.

"I don't know. How about fairies?"

"We haven't met any fairies yet." Buffy admitted.

"Unless you count Anya." Tara told her.

Buffy gave her a weird look.

"Okay. Maybe fairy godmother is a better term." Tara conceded.

Buffy smirked, "Oh. I get it. Smart."

"No elves though." Willow said, "Or angels. Or dragons."

"I think I can hold off on the dragons." Buffy said with a frown, "No. I really don't want to meet dragons."

"Angels would be cool. So would Elves." said Tara, "Unless they were evil because then it wouldn't be."

"I think elves would be evil." said Buffy.

"Why?" Tara asked with a frown.

"Remember that story Anya told us about Santa Claus?"

Tara's frown turned disappointed, "Oh. Yeah. They would be evil alright."

"Santa Claus exists?" Daniel asked, "Okay. Now I know you're joking."

Buffy shook her head, "Not in the Christmas cheer sense but in the crawl down your chimneys and kill you in your sleep in the dead of winter sense."

"So how did we get the idea that Santa Claus gives presents then?" Daniel asked.

"Coca cola." Tara told him, "In the uh, thirties, I think. Coca cola started advertising Santa Claus as a promotional gimmick around Christmas. I don't really get why."

"It could have been some form of demonic appeasement." Willow theorized.

"By Coca Cola?" Buffy asked skeptically.

"Haven't you found Coca Cola sort of shifty?" Willow asked.

"You mean how it's got cocaine in it?" Buffy asked, "And how diet coke is just like normal coke except its sugar is replaced with caramel which is just cooked sugar? And how there's only three people who know what the secret ingredient is and they're never in the same state at the same time? No. Nothing shifty about that. It's not like we, ourselves, aren't peddling mind controlling substances in the form of innocuous junk food."

"But that's different." Tara argued.

Buffy shrugged, "Is it? I wouldn't know. The magical white swoosh on the red bottle won't let me know."

That joke didn't go down so well so Buffy asked Daniel, "So is my cellphone in that bag?"

"Yes. It is." Daniel blinked at her, "I'll just get it for you."

"Much appreciated." Buffy said as she got it back, "Should check in with Giles, put his mind to rest."

She dialed a number without looking off the road and put the phone up to her ears.

"Tell him I'm okay." Willow requested.

"First thing I'll do." Buffy said warmly.

When Giles picked up, he sounded a little rattled, "Hello. You've reached the magic box."

"Hi Giles. It's you know who."

"Buffy! You're okay?"

"Yup and Willow's okay too. It seems we've made some new friends."

"You've found the people from the appendix?" Giles asked eagerly, "Good."

"No. Not yet." Buffy admitted, "We've found the air force instead. They uh.. They took Willow to another planet where they performed surgery on her to remove the gooey thingee in her head. Now she's up and about and we're back on the road."

"Oh. They just let you go?"

"No. They uh.. They know about me being the slayer."

"Buffy." Giles said slowly, "Why?"

"It's okay, Giles. They're okay with me. They're not like the initiative. They work with aliens occasionally. Willow and Tara floated a pen for them and Willow had a long sit down with the guy in charge. They let us go but they want to find out how they can help."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Neither am I but we should keep our options open."

"So everything is okay there? Tara, how is she handling it?"

Buffy looked back at Tara and smiled, "She's good."

Giles didn't say anything for a while then asked, "Are you driving?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Maybe you should stop."

"Why?"

"Just pull over. I've got something to tell you."

Buffy frowned and pulled over, stopping on the gravel which littered the roadside.

"Okay. I'm parked. What is it?" Buffy asked.

"Xander told me you had him search through police records for deaths resulting from a spike to the back of the head."

"That's right. So?"

"He found a lot of them. All over America. He talked with an Interpol agent which gave him the impression that there has been a string of murders in Europe too. It was hushed up by officials but in Albania, there was a brutal massacre of several dozen gang members, all of them spiked in the base of the skull, some post mortem. There were literally thousands of spent shells on the scene but no forensic evidence of who the attacker was. No human DNA at least. There was other, slightly more curious evidence but it disappeared mysteriously."

Buffy frowned, "So he's killed gang members. You sure they weren't evil cultists?"

"The thought had occurred to me." Giles admitted, "But then Xander told me what happened when he restricted the search to California, within the time frame he knew Tell was here."

"And."

"There were two hits. One was a defense lawyer in Las Vegas. The other .. It's Tara's Father. He killed Tara's father on her birthday."

Buffy didn't say anything and by her silence, everyone else was now wondering what was going on.

"The three Maclays were driving a Winnebago out of Sunnydale towards Las Vegas when their tires were blown out and they crashed. The younger two survived but Tara's Father was dragged forcibly out of the car and was killed by an unseen assailant while the other two were still concussed from the fall."

"But why?"

"Buffy. The time this happened, the timing… Tell must have driven after the Maclay's as soon as they left the magic box. As soon as he saw Maclay, he must have stalked him until he had a clear shot of killing him with a limited amount of witnesses then drove back to the magic box like nothing had happened. It was cold blooded murder."

"No. Why would he?"

"I couldn't say but there were items in the Winnebago, things the two survivors could explain." Giles said with dread in his voice, "Shackles, chloroform, valium, heroine, an unlicensed gun."

"Oh god. That was for Tara." Buffy said grimly, "They was going to.. But he didn't have to kill them. We're the ones with the power here. We could stop whatever it is they were going to do."

"Call me cold but suddenly, I don't feel so bad that the bastard's dead." Giles told Buffy.

Buffy spoke harshly into the phone, "You're trying to justify what he did?"

"No. I just understand why he did it." Giles replied, "Actually, no I don't. There's no way he could have known."

"But why?" Buffy asked, "I don't get why him. Why then?"

"The only thing I can think of is that he saw Mr. Maclay as a threat of some sort." Giles theorized, "He must have thought that he would try to remove Tara from Sunnydale, either physically or with the law on his side."

"But why?" Buffy asked, "He obviously would have seen the sudden difference in Tara and chalked it up to the scythe so why would he want her to hang around?"

"I fear that I don't know." Giles said woefully, "We just don't know enough about him."

"Look. We've got to get going. This can't go on. We'll find these magic folks and get their help."

"Okay but be careful. We don't know their nature yet."

"Alright. I will. Bye."

Giles said farewell and Buffy turned off her cell and just sat there for a few moments.

"Buffy. What's going on?" Tara asked.

Buffy looked at her with a pained look in her eyes, " Tara. There's something I need to tell you."

"What?" Tara asked, not really sure if she wanted to know.

"It's your Father. He, uh. He's dead." Buffy said, more bluntly than she had hoped for.

"How?"

"Tell killed him."

"Oh." was all Tara said and her head drooped forward so that her hair fell over her face.

Willow took off her seatbelt, moved over to Tara and hugged her gently, whispering something into her ear.

Buffy looked away for a second then started the engine back up. She drove gently back onto the road and cruised much slower than she would normally, actually in the speed limit.

For a few minutes nothing was said, even Willow's soft murmurings to Tara had stopped.

Then out of the blue, Daniel turned to Buffy and asked, "Who's Tell?"

"The demon we're going to kill." Tara replied, almost snarling.

OXOXOX

New Greenwich, a little unknown community in Nevada.

It was well into the night as the Buffy's convertible strolled through town. The town was still alive after dark. Shops were still open. People were still milling about the streets carelessly.

It didn't seem natural to Buffy who had adapted to living in Sunnydale.

"This is quaint." Buffy said as she looked over the line of lovingly crafted houses, some fashioned into stores as they were on the main road, "But where's the magic people?"

"What are you looking for?" Daniel asked.

"Back in Sunnydale we cast a spell to find uh, well, we don't know what they are actually. We only know that they're good at magic." Buffy explained, "So keep your eyes peeled and if you find anything magical looking, tell us."

"You mean like that?" Daniel asked, pointing out the window.

"Like what?" Buffy asked, looking across the street but not seeing anything.

"Like that magic store." Daniel said.

Buffy snorted, "Yeah like.. oh, good point."

Then she did a tight one eighty, flawlessly swinging her car sideways into a parking space across the street.

After parking, Buffy looked back at the girls, "I don't suppose you could come with me, Will? I really don't know that much about magic. Maybe you could spot something for me."

Willow nodded and the two girls got out of the car.

Buffy got out with them and suggested, " Tara. Maybe you should stay behind."

"No. I want to come." Tara said bravely.

Buffy frowned, "Then maybe you should put the Scythe away."

Tara looked down at the scythe and nodded, putting the Scythe back in the especially made sling Willow made for her that kept it hidden and looked like a backpack. It also had the added advantage of being a backpack.

The three girls walked into the magic store, followed by Daniel Jackson.

"Blessed be." the elderly storeowner greeted them warmly as they entered.

"Blessed be." Tara returned the greeting but without so much warmth.

Without a plan, the four looked around the store, seemingly lost.

"Is the something I can help you with?" The storeowner asked again, his voice not quite as invasive as Giles was when he asked that.

"We're just looking." Willow told him, "You have a nice variety of herbs."

"Actually, we're not just looking." Buffy told him, "Well, we are but we're not looking to buy something exactly. We're looking for people."

The storeowner looked at her, sizing her up and realizing something wasn't quite right with the picture.

"People?" he asked.

Buffy nodded, "People who know about this. About magic. You wouldn't happen to know anyone would you?"

"Why?"

"Someone killed her Father." Buffy said, gesturing with her head towards Tara, "And we want them to pay for it."

"I suggest you leave my store and let the justice system deal with him." the storeowner said, "I'm not in the business of hexes."

"That's the thing. He's not a person." Buffy told him, "He's a demon."

Everyone stared at Buffy and the store owner looking at each other. It was make or break time.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." he said to Tara then turned back to Buffy, "We do have quite a wiccan community here. I'm sure we can find some way to help you."

"We were under the impression that there were especially gifted people living here." Willow told him, "More powerful than the usual witch."

The store owner pondered this, "There's mean old Bettie. She always could hurl a decent fireball. Besides that, I wouldn't know. No one sticks out. What about yourselves, what sort of powers do you have?"

"Powers?" Willow asked, "Just the usual I guess."

"I mean your main power." the storeowner clarified his question.

Willow frowned, "Main power? I don't follow."

The storeowner looked at them all then realized the problem, "Oh so you're those types of witches. I didn't realize."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked him.

"There's more than one type of magic practitioner." he explained, "There's those who are born into it and those that aren't. Those that are born into magic have a main power from birth. Some even gain new powers as they grow older."

"That explains what the book was talking about." Willow said, "It called the guys we're looking for the trueborn, obviously a reference to being born with powers."

"Do you think we could get some help fighting this demon?" Buffy asked.

The storeowner nodded as he puttered over to door and flipped open sign over to closed. "Yes, of course. Please, come into my back room where we will some more privacy."

Everyone trundled into his back room which turned out to be his living room.

The old man was about to call out for something then stopped and looked at the others, "Have you ever seen a white lighter before?"

The blank look he received told him they hadn't.

"Well, don't be scared." he told them, "They're harmless."

"Laetitia." He called at the ceiling, "In your own time."

After a few seconds, the room was bathed in a soft blue light as Laetitia floated down into existence in the middle of the room. She was a comfortably attractive woman of indiscernible ancestry. Her skin was moderately brown and she had luxuriously dark hair but she had incredibly light brown, almost green eyes which seemed almost out of place. Her eyes were what captured Buffy's attention. They were practically oozing with love and care.

"Oh, hello." She greeted them, "Carl, who are your guests?"

"We're from Sunnydale." Buffy explained "We're looking for help in fighting a demon."

"Sunnydale." the white-lighter repeated, frowning slightly, "Arr. I see. Excuse me for asking this but how is it you came to find your way here?"

"We scried for help." Buffy replied, "Or rather, those two did."

"You didn't help?" Laetitia asked.

"No. I'm not really magic girl." Buffy told her.

"This demon. Do you know what type it is?" the white-lighter asked.

"An echo." Buffy told her, "We haven't been able to find much on him. But we can't kill him by physical means which is why we're looking for magical ones."

Laetitia nodded sagely, "It sounds like an upper level demon wandered into Sunnydale, which is unusual. I wonder why he's there."

"We invited him." Willow told her then added, "It was an accident."

"Why would that be unusual?" Buffy asked, "The whole town is chockablock with demons."

"But on a different level of power." Laetitia told her, "On the hell mouth, you tend to get the lower level demons. Dangerous in their own right but with vastly limited powers. Outside of the hellmouth you get upper level demons which tend to be more human like and are attracted to large cities and power. Quite a few upper level demons are invulnerable to purely physical harm. It's a dreadfully annoying trait."

"So you're saying that the demons are actually worse outside of Sunnydale?" Buffy asked her.

The white-lighter tittered, "No. Not at all. Thankfully there are a lot less upper level demons out there compared to lower level demons."

"Do you think we could get some help with our demon problem?" Willow asked as Tara moved up behind her.

Laetitia smiled warmly at her, "Of course, although, I think I should refer with the elders. I'll be back shortly."

Then she orbed out, through the roof with everyone watching.

"That was different." said Daniel.

"Yeah." Buffy agreed, "Pretty."

"They might be a while." said Carl, the store owner, "Time moves differently where they come from."

"They live in a hell dimension?" Buffy asked.

"No. Quite the opposite direction." Carl chuckled, "Tea?"

"I wouldn't mind some." said Daniel, although none of the girls did.

OXOXOX

Ten minutes later, in a living room in San Francisco.

"So you're telling me that there's a town packed full of demons and it's not San Francisco?" Piper Halliwell asked.

Leo nodded, "Actually, LA has more demons than ... Yes. Sunnydale is the home of the hellmouth which is almost literally an opening into hell. Quite a few demons go there to soak up the ambience."

"And there's one girl that patrols it, vanquishing demons where she finds them?" Paige asked, "Only one?"

Leo nodded again, "The slayer. One of the few champions I don't know much about. They're very mysterious."

"And she wants our help?" Piper asked.

Leo nodded, "Yes again."

"To kill a demon which she can't kill?" Phoebe asked.

"That's right." Leo told her, "From what I gather, Slayers don't use magic to fight. They use brute force."

At the combined Charmed One's look of skepticism, he explained, "The demons that are attracted to the hellmouth tend to be the bottom feeders of the demon world. Some require special means but a good sword will vanquish most of them."

"Is she like an Amazon? Like Xena?" Paige asked, "I really want to meet this girl now."

"She'll be here any minute and you can see her for yourself."

True to his word, Laetitia orbed in with four other people.

"Ooh." Buffy groaned, bending over at the waist, "Not good. Not good."

Willow helped her into a chair, "Buffy? You okay?"

"That wasn't good." Buffy said as she held her stomach.

"Some people have a hard time getting adjusted to orbing. Particularly those not active in magic." Laetitia told her, "The feeling will pass shortly."

"Now you know what I feel like when you're driving." Daniel told Buffy.

"Why aren't you all icky?" Buffy asked him, giving him the eye.

Daniel barely shrugged, "It's a smoother ride than the .. uh.. than that thing I ride in that takes me to far away places."

Paige walked up to Tara and held out her hand, "So you must be the Slayer? Glad to meet you."

"I'm.. not." Tara mumbled, looking away.

"This here's the Slayer." Willow told them, patting Buffy on the back.

"She's the slayer?" Paige asked looking over Buffy who was looking slightly green, "But she's so.."

"Small?" Buffy asked, "Everyone says that."

"Even Gabrielle is bigger than her." Phoebe said absent-mindedly.

"I'll leave you in their hands." Laetitia told Buffy, "The Charmed ones are quite possibly the most powerful witches on the face of the earth. I'm sure they'll be able to help you."

"Thanks, Laetitia." Buffy thanked her, "But how will I get back to my car?"

"Leo can orb you there. He's a white lighter too." Laetitia explained.

"Oh. Great. More orbing." Buffy groaned, "Thanks again."

"You're welcome." Laetitia said, frowning slightly, "Blessed be."

Then she orbed out, leaving them there.

"So this demon you want us to vanquish. What's it like?" Piper asked them, straight to business, "Do you know what it's called."

"Tell, the echo." Willow told her.

"Tell the echo?" Phoebe asked, "Is that a play on words?"

Willow sighed, "No. His name is Tell, the type of demon he's called is an echo."

"Oh, okay." Phoebe nodded, "Well. Let's look him up in the book of shadows."

"The book of shadows?" Willow asked, "You've got to show me this."

Phoebe, Paige, Willow and Tara then walked up the stairs to the attic, leaving the others behind.

"You go do that." Buffy told them as they left, "I think I'll just sit here."

"Do you want something to drink?" Piper asked, "Maybe a glass of water."

Buffy shook her head, "Maybe later, after I can stomach it."

OXOXOX

In the attic, Paige walked over to the book and started skimming through it with Phoebe at her side.

"That's the book of shadows?" Willow asked, "I don't think you'll find him by just looking in one book. We've got lots of books but we've only been able to-"

"Oh look. Here he is." Paige said with a mean grin.

"What?" Willow asked, moving over to look at the picture of a boy that looked suspiciously like Tell, "Whoa. That's him alright."

Phoebe looked forward and read what was written, "Beware when dealing with the echoes. If vanquished incorrectly their power over death will be released, killing everything within forty paces."

"How do you vanquish them correctly?" Tara asked as she looked at her feet, "Because forty paces. That's a lot."

Paige flipped the pages back and forth, frowning, "Uh. That's all it says."

"It is?" Phoebe asked, "But that's no help at all."

"Power over death?" Willow asked, "We haven't seen him show any powers over death. What's that supposed to mean? And how big is a pace?"

"About three feet." Phoebe told her, "So, three times forty, a hundred and twenty feet. That's about roughly thirty five, thirty six meters."

"One hell of a defense." said Paige, "You don't dare kill it."

"We do have one way to kill it." Tara told them, "The scythe."

"The what?" Phoebe asked.

"The scythe." Willow repeated, "It's a weapon we found designed to kill Tell but we don't know if it's working properly."

"It's working properly." Tara told her.

"Honey. We don't know that." Willow told Tara, trying to sooth her by rubbing her shoulders.

"He killed my Father, Willow." Tara said slowly and softly.

"We might not be able to kill him." Phoebe told the two girls, "But that doesn't mean we're powerless. We can trap him and put him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone."

Tara nodded, determined, "Okay. Let's do that."

OXOXOX

Sunnydale, outside car park of the Chase mansion.

Spike was leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette and doing his best to look cool in case anyone was watching.

That was when eight brilliantly bright balls of light shot down into the ground, leaving a small crowd in their wake.

Spike tripped backwards over the trunk of the tree but righted himself before anyone noticed.

Then he saw Buffy running in his direction. No, not his direction, but the bushes.

Then he saw her bend over and throw up the sandwiches she ate earlier.

"Hey Red. Was that you?" Spike chuckled, "Almost pissed my dacks. Would've, if you know, if I still could."

"Spike." Willow said lowly in greeting, "Have you seen Tell?"

Spike nodded, gesturing towards the mansion, "He's in there, waiting for Faith. He had a spot of slayering scheduled but Faith isn't showing. So who are your friends?"

"They're witches." Willow told him, "Powerful witches."

"So you're finally going to kill the tyke, huh?" Spike asked as he looked the Charmed ones up and down, "It has to be said that there's worse ways to go."

"We not going to kill him." Willow told him, "We're just going to trap him and bind him using magic."

Spike's brow furrowed angrily, "If you're not going to kill him, why did you bring the wiccan pep rally?"

"We're the ones who are going to trap him." Piper told him.

Spike shrugged, "As long as you let me watch, sure. Go ahead. It'll fun to watch him squirm."

"Just wait a second." Buffy told them as she looked over from where she was bent over, "I think I'm past the last of it."

Spike chuckled, "Who would've thought Buffy didn't teleport well?"

"So how are we going to get the demon out of the mansion and into our trap?" Paige asked them.

"Ask him out." Spike told her, "He doesn't know you're going to trap him."

"We can't just ask him out." Paige told him, "Why won't he just attack you on sight?"

"He doesn't know we know that he killed my Father." Tara told the charmed ones, "We thought he was our friend."

"Maybe friends is pushing it." Spike told her then blinked, "He killed your Father? When was this?"

"We just found out." Willow told him, "Now shut up."

Spike put his hands up in a defensive manner and shut up.

OXOXOX

There was a knock at Tell's bedroom door and his eye's flashed open and he unfolded his legs from his sitting position.

When he opened the door, Buffy was on the other side.

"Hello Buffy." He said with a smile, "You need something?"

"We've made some friends. I'd like to you meet them." Buffy told him, her voice sounding a bit more distant than normal.

Tell nodded and followed her out to the foyer where the others were standing somberly.

Spike was grinning.

Tara had the Scythe out.

Tell frowned but didn't show any hesitation as Buffy lead him out into the middle of the floor and left him standing there.

The Charmed ones placed a crystal each down on the hardwood floor and a containment ward sprung to life, forming a pyramid of white magic with Tell trapped on the inside.

Tell looked at the force field for a second then looked at Buffy.

Then he walked straight through the force field with almost no resistance as the crystals on each crackled and popped with some sort of magical feedback. When they burnt out the force field fell with Tell already on the outside of it.

"That's not good." said Piper then tried to freeze Tell.

"Piper. Freeze him." Phoebe yelled.

"I'm trying." Piper told her sister, "He's immune."

Tell turned and looked at Piper, explaining "Your magic might be sophisticated and powerful but mine's older. It's a primal force you can't hope to win against."

Each time she tried to slow him, the effect was very short lived and for the most part he just kept walking towards Buffy as if he didn't even notice it.

Instead of attacking her, he just stood there and asked "What is this about? I thought you were satisfied that I'm on your side."

"This is because I don't trust you anymore." Buffy told him, not intimidated.

"But you trust Spike?" Tell asked, looking at the mass murderer.

Buffy shook her head, "I trust Spike to be Spike but I have no idea who you are."

"What would you like to know?" Tell said simply.

"What? No avoiding the issue?"

Tell shook his head, "Not when the issue is being in Sunnydale. I think I like it here."

"Okay then. Start explaining why you killed Tara's dad." Buffy asked rhetorically, not interested in the answer.

"That's what I do, I kill evil." Tell told her angrily, "I thought you would've figured that out for yourself by now."

"He was human." Buffy argued, "You just can't go around killing humans. You just can't."

"Why not? Apparently I go around killing my own kind." Tell said coldly, "Besides, they were only going to come back here and ruin Tara's life even more. I couldn't allow that."

"Why? What do you care about Tara?"

"Because she's on our side. She's part of the solution. They were part of the problem."

"They were my Father." Tara told him angrily as she faced off with Tell with the scythe in her hands.

Tell raised an eyebrow and asked "You want revenge for your Father?"

"You need to be stopped." Tara told him.

"My only purpose is to destroy evil. In many cultures that is considered good."

"He wasn't evil." Tara said with gritted teeth.

"I disagree." Tell told her, "What else would you call a man who did what he did to you and what he did to your mother. Not only that but what he did to a backpacker from Germany. Well, you didn't know about that her. It was before you were even born."

"NO!" Tara yelled and lunged at him with the scythe, stake first.

He grabbed the stake with one hand before it plunged into his heart and held it there, "Your father was a monster. Something we have in common. So was mine."

Tara struggled with the Scythe while Tell kept talking.

"I'm a demon so cruelty and malice are part of my nature but why did he do what he did to all these girls? You're telling yourself it's because of the magic but you know better."

"Shut up." Tara shouted at him, trying to wrench the Scythe out of his grip but failing miserably.

But he didn't stop, he just kept talking, "Do you remember what he did to your mother? What he did to her face?"

"Shut up." Tara growled at him, still struggling.

Tell looked around the room at the conflicted look on everyone's faces, "Why don't you tell these people what he took away from you to punish you? How he made family time mean torture and despair for you?"

"SHUT UP!" Tara yelled at him again and finally yanked the scythe out of his grip and swung at him with it.

Tell deflected her easily attack easily with the back of his hand and she fell to the ground. Once that happened, the rest of her composure shattered and she broke out in tears and sobs. Willow was quickly by her side, scooping her up into her arms and pulling her away from Tell.

"And you're still defending him?" Tell asked her, yelling at her, "Most people in your place would've wanted to torture him to a slow death. But you, you're defending his right to live? Why? You need to grow up and see that man for what he was."

"Tell." Buffy said in a steely cold voice, "Leave."

Tell turned around to face her didn't say anything.

"Leave Sunnydale." Buffy continued, "I know we can't kill you but I can make wish you were dead."

Tell looked at her and measured the threat.

"Fine." he replied, "You'll find the ownership papers to the mansion in the safe on the second floor. The combination is written on the back of the safe in chalk. You can have the house. It's yours."

Then Tell walked out of the house as everyone watched him.

As he opened the door, he stopped at turned around to face them with a troubled look on his face.

"You know, I'll never understand humanity. You're filled with such love for each other, I can feel it coming off them in waves but all you seem to do with it is hurt each other. It makes no sense."

"Tell." Buffy called after him.

Tell turned back again and she said "Don't come back."

He nodded slightly then he truly left, leaving the door open. After a short time, they heard him start up the same grey car he drove into Sunnydale. The same car he was now using to leave Sunnydale.

Buffy was the first to speak.

"No one's ever given me a house before."

"This is going to come back to bite us. I can just feel it." Spike said grimly, "Why didn't we just kill him?"

"We can't." Buffy told Spike softly, "We don't know how."

Sensing that things were far beyond awkward, Buffy turned to the charmed ones and said "Could you wait outside for a second? I just want to talk to Willow and Tara alone for a bit."

Everyone else left, including Spike to give them some privacy.

" Willow." Buffy said, pulling her car keys out of her pocket and giving them to Willow, "I won't be orbing back with you back to new Greenwich. So here, take my keys. Spend the night there. Spend a few nights there if you want. A whole Wiccan community doesn't sound so bad."

Willow looked up from Tara and said "Thank you."

Buffy tried to smile but failed, "Take as much time as you need to get back. Spend some time away from the hellmouth."

Then Buffy stood back up and left Tara alone with her lover in the silence of the cold empty foyer.

OXOXOX

Somewhere dark and ominous.

It could have been in an underground bunker or inside a orbiting satellite. The scene was a dark room with no windows and filled with holographic screens. The extreme use of showy technology lent the room a certain amount of detachment from reality.

There were three technicians wearing headsets and monitoring the screens.

A door hissed open sideways and blinding light streamed in from the white room outside. Through the light a tall, statuesque man with came through. He had the same manner to him as you'd expect Julius Caesar to have when he was alive. He looked official, authoritative, snobbish.

He could say he was dealing with affairs of estate and mean it. He knew how to insult you but in a despicably polite way. He was the type of rich person that other rich people worked for. He was the upper class of the upper class.

Also, despite his appearance, you'd be hard pushed to find a single human emotion cross his face.

"Report." he said, his voice so cold that it made your heart shiver.

"The insurgents of Sunnydale have made contact with the SGC." one of his assistants told him.

"How?" he asked back.

"By uh .. it was a fluke." the assistant said, wincing as if they were expecting some sort of corporal punishment.

"There's no such thing as a fluke." the man in charge said bitterly, "What is the situation of the Sunnydale connection?"

"We've burnt most of our bridges." the next assistant along said, this one a plain looking girl, "It's mostly just our connection to the local ranger base which is taking our time."

The man in charge nodded then said "Cut every connection within the next ten hours using whatever methods you deem necessary. But make sure they're completely severed. No one can trace us."

"Yes sir." All three subordinates said as one.

With that, the man turned and left, back into the bright white room.

OXOXOX

FIN, until the next episode.

And remember. Feedback makes the world go 'round.


End file.
